Blood Of Dragons
by Sub-Atomic Grape
Summary: Ylisse carries a history of dragons, and stories whisper of their powers mingling with Exalts and Grimleal. To a prince and tactician they are only tales, until a fateful night burns away myth and makes it all too real. Together they will have to face down kings, conquerors, and what lurks in their own blood. [AU: Female Avatar/Chrom]
1. PART I Spark: Flickering

**PART I: Spark**

 **Chapter 1: Flickering**

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 **((Author's note: I don't own Fire Emblem: Awakening, which is probably for the best. If I did, the game we got would have been a whole lot weirder.**

 **Thank you to StarryNox and WhenTheMoonMetTheSun for the constant support and beta reading this story; I wouldn't have been able to push the prose to the next level without you. Thank you as well to UltraRed for inspiration and character names. Last but not least, thank you to Ticcy on tumblr for the incredible ideas of Robin's mom and the endless inspiration via art.**

 **And thank you to the readers for doing their thing, and for reading!))**

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Their blood was fire, burning bright through their skin and fighting against the chilled, oppressive shadow of the chamber. Darkness tried to swallow them up, only held at bay by the glow from their flesh. The light pulsing off their skin was aided by a pale blue glimmer racing along the sword held by the man in front of her and the purple crackle of energy rising off her hands. The shine pushed against the stale air of the tomb-like room they found themselves in.

The atmosphere promised death within seconds. And without a doubt, that death would be their own if they didn't move swift and sure. The figure in front of them, staring them down was gaunt as a specter. The spells curling out of his fingers and rising off his shoulders in a heat haze were lanced with a sickening purple color that turned her stomach the more she looked at it.

Strike. Sword swing, spell blaze. They all blurred and burned together in a flurry of combat. The swordsman was a blur of white and silver, his cape billowing out behind him, twisting and snapping in the heavy air.

Her own motions were weak, little more than echoes compared to the main fight. It was like the fire on her skin left the rest of her a burned out husk. Her eyes could barely track everything, and even the cape melted into a pale shade.

For a few heartbeats, she swore she saw something else twisting out of the swordsman's back. Something silvery and bright. But she couldn't keep her focus on that. Not with the sorcerer still drawing breath.

The swordsman moved like lightning, rolling underneath the sorcerer's spells, refusing to stay down when one managed to strike him. The same couldn't be said for her. Now her movements were turning sluggish, even though her thoughts raced.

She should have been an easy target, but the swordsman stayed between her and the sorcerer. He was set on looking out for her, keeping that glimmering sword between her and the mage. The white shapes arched out of his back, and her eyes watered from how bright they were; like a gleaming shield against the violet bolts of spell fire.

 _'Chrom.'_

His name hummed in her head, in her heart, with a strange certainty. It thrummed through her like power, in time to the energy coursing through her blood. The light didn't feel like it was burning through her anymore, but giving her strength. Just enough to lift her hands, and shift her fingers. The tired weight faded from them. Just for a heartbeat, but enough to weave one spell.

She snapped all of her power into a bolt of crackling magic. Chrom struck at the same time, sword and spell both piercing their enemy. Chrom leapt away before the sorcerer could summon up a counter spell and moved in front of her to guard her against another attack.

It never came. The sorcerer collapsed to the floor stones, his spells turning traitor as they washed up his skin and devoured his flesh with a hiss of flame.

Chrom turned to smile at her, and she felt her own lips quirking up to match it. They'd done it. Somehow, they'd done it-

"This isn't over-" A snarl worked its way out of the sorcerer's body. Impossibly, he stood up. He was little more than a charred wreck, and yet he still stood. His eyes burned, bright as the flames clinging to his form, glaring at her and Chrom.

"DAMN

YOU

BOTH!"

The words punctured the air, hate-filled and yanking the last ounce of power out of the sorcerer's flesh to direct it at Chrom. He turned, slowly. Too slowly, his motions strangely heavy in her eyes.

Her hands snapped out and grabbed him hard by the shoulder. The violet and blue light surrounding them mingled for one heartbeat, before she flung him to the side. The spell blazed past Chrom, burning white hot and close enough to scorch a few stray strands on his cloak. But that was all of him that it touched.

Instead it slammed straight into her, with a sharp blast that tore all along her body and inside her ears. The world turned red. She fell through a haze of pain and smacked hard against the tile. Whatever air the spell didn't shock out of her lungs was torn out by the impact. She couldn't move, couldn't even twitch from how much it hurt.

"Alright-?" A voice pierced through the haze.

"You alright?" It asked again, and she felt a hand weave around her back, lifting her up. It dulled the agony racing through her, her eyes tried to focus on the pale blue aura, tied to the grip and trying to wash over her and mingle with the purple on her hands and arms. The red in her vision stained into both, and the light began to fade underneath the haze.

"That's the end of him." The voice continued, and she picked out Chrom's face above hers. She felt herself trying to smile again in response to him... but something in the spell still burned, and it hurt to move anything. Chrom kept speaking, but there was something wrong with her ears. They still rang, even though the energy of the spell should have dissipated.

Something-

More red jabbed into the corners of her vision in painful jolts. It drowned the last glimmer of light from their skin. Her head pounded in time to each bolt of red, and her breath rasped loud in her ears. She fought for control, some tiny bit of calm as she inhaled. It did nothing to banish the shaking in her limbs, the pain blossoming fresh along her arms and head.

Something was wrong.

Chrom picked up on it too. His smile vanished. He leaned in closer to look at her, concern creasing at the corners of his eyes.

"Hang-"

It was all she picked out, before something else cut into her ears. A wet slicing noise followed by an impact jolting up her arm. Chrom flinched in the same instant.

He staggered away, a glowing, jagged fragment of lightning lodged in his side. Her eyes, the one thing she could still control as red tinged as they were, flickered down. Spell fire crackled along her hand, the same yellow-orange color as the magic blade jutting out of Chrom's side.

Chrom whispered something to her. Something pleading, telling her to escape. His face clouded over in pain, and his life started to flicker out.

Because of _her._

Despair broke through the last of her control as he hit the ground. A mocking laughter rang through the room when she tried to scream out the grief in her throat. Instead of crying, a dry rasping laugh joined the voice.

A flicker caught her eye. Chrom's body lay across the stone, something pale and broken framing him, and his white cape covering the puncture in his side. A point in it slowly turned red, but something else drew her eye.

She stared at a fragment of something bright rushing along his cape. It shimmered from heat and traced along his back, spreading out from a point on his shoulder. Flickering, growing, _burning._

Fire. It wreathed his body, shining and brilliant as the heavens themselves. For an instant she saw his sides draw in a shuddering breath, but before she could look closer, a new color stained her vision. Purple flames, the same as the sorcerer's spell, laced around her hand. The fire was an antithesis to what wrapped around Chrom, dark and trying to eat the light.

The fire swept over her and pushed fresh sparks into her blood. Her body felt too small to contain the snap of fire blazing up inside her. Flames consumed them both, burning away everything that surrounded them. She fell into the blaze and knew nothing else... save for six words, echoing beyond all of that.

 _'One last throw of the dice.'_

-o-o-o-

The workshop was in tatters, a match to the village outside. Screams and sounds of burning wood felt oddly muffled through the thick walls, like the room was trying to keep what was left of the magic inside from escaping.

Only one light pierced the gloom, a shaft of sunlight that spilled through a rent in the drapes surrounding the windows.

A woman's body sprawled across the center of the light, a slash of red streaked metal resting close by. The age lines on her face went tight from pain, and she grit her teeth against it. It had been years since she'd felt the bite of steel, or fought against the way it shredded concentration. Exhaling and inhaling had turned ragged and wet. She tried to focus and breathe around the new hole punched into her side. She found it more and more difficult, and standing up was impossible.

She'd already tried once and collapsed from the strain. With a grunt she rolled onto her side and stared up at the roof timbers. The wooden beams were burned black from a stray blast of fire, and her fingers still ached from launching the spell. Directly under the scorch marks was a pile of ash. All that was left of the one who put the knife in her side.

The sorceress held a hand to her wound. She tried to grip with fingers going cold, pulling herself along the wooden floorboards. The boards scrapped against her side, a fresh coating of dark red soaking into the heavy wood. Numbly, the woman wondered if this much blood would pose a problem to the people setting up shop underneath her.

Screams and the ring of steel seeped up from underneath her. Her body shivered from the crash of furniture below. A reminder that the entire town had other things to worry about.

No time left. Not for Southtown, and not for her.

"N-not yet..." she rasped out.

Her work desk was smashed to bits. All the instruments dashed to the ground, the ceremonial silk cloth pooling on the floor. A red smear decorated the cloth and wood both, showing where she'd been thrown and gutted.

One thing was still intact, shielded by the bit of magic she'd been working before getting blindsided by the attacker. Her bloody fingers closed around a bowl. Half of its precious liquid spilled onto the floor, the water mixing with blood and dust. But enough magic remained stuck to the surface and remaining water. Inside the groove of the bowl the scrying spell continued as best as it could. It fought to reach out beyond the confines of the room, to reflect something else.

The liquid rippled, casting a soft glow that burned away her agonized reflection and replaced it with something else.

The water revealed a figure laying in a field, her arms spread out in the grass and almost lost in the folds of a thick traveler's coat. The figure in the vision was far removed from the chaos and violence clutching the town.

The sorceress had one heartbeat to feel relief. The next her breath seized up in her throat. The vision flickered out, then back, like shadows of cloud across the sky. The robed woman wasn't alone; a second presence stood above her, wreathed in shadow and in defiance of the sun. Through her skin, the scryer sensed something about the figure. Something oily, something that set flesh crawling when her eyes could pick out nothing.

 _'It can't be-'_

Years of separation from shadowed halls and crypt-like cathedrals hadn't dulled the scryer's memory. She knew that sensation, and it felt like her stomach was trying to leach out of the hole in her side.

"Gri-" her throat choked around saying the whole name, gone dry from fear and tight from pain. And she could do _nothing_ about it; just helplessly stare down at the vision.

The figure on the ground gave a feeble stir, like she was fighting back against the other. The shadowed figure knelt and clapped hands around the girl's face, trying to force her to accept _something._ But then the shadow's head snapped up at something just beyond the vision. The shadow froze, coiled itself up, and then melted away, turning to smoke that dissipated into the air.

"Safe?" The sorceress croaked out, still staring at the vision. What had caused the other to vanish? The little bit of fight left in the field bound one, or-?

The pool blurred out, the spell losing some of its power. Pain wracked her body and bit into her focus. Her ragged breathing told her that she hadn't much more time.

"Not yet-!" she hissed again and dipped her fingers into the waters. The blood running from them carried some of her life, acting as a catalyst and renewing the spell.

The vision reformed, and a different collection of figures joined the scene. The field had lost the miasma cloaking it, replaced with warm sunlight the newcomers could have brought with them. A young man stood above the woman in the field now, along with a girl in a gold dress. Another stood aside, his shoulders tense. She forced herself to take a second look at the first man, picking out more details.

A ragged white cape draped around the stranger's shoulders. Despite the wear on its edges, it looked like it was made of fine material. The same as the armor on one shoulder. The other-

Her breath sucked in when she saw the brand on his shoulder, so similar to the one on the robed woman's hand, clearly built into the flesh. It formed a shape like a tear or a flame with a faint blue tinge. A symbol she knew well, though she had been taught to hate it instead of revere it. She had no room for either emotion now, however.

"Well... then." She breathed out, and the vision guttered like a dying candle flame. At the same time her breathing grew fainter, and her head went oddly foggy. She'd lost enough blood; it was amazing the spell had lasted the span it did, with how her life was slipping out.

Soon enough she was sure the bandits would pound their way up the stairs, to finish off what the knife had begun.

Something roared outside that wasn't flame. The screams took on a different sound as the sorceress snapped her head up. The sound rumbled through building and bones equally, an animal cry seeped in fury.

 _'Portents. So many portents.'  
_

She couldn't move anymore. The best she could do was slump against the wall and catch one last glimpse into the scrying bowl. The cloaked woman took the man's hand, finding her feet. They both spoke, each one blinking in surprise over what the other was saying.

No words. Not with the spell faltering. But she could imagine some form of very unusual introductions going on.

"...Prince of Ylisse. I wouldn't have expected that." She murmured. The vision faded in and out, each pulse turning back to a bowl of messy, blood-tinged water. "But I pray…that you might be able to help her."

One last breath to draw.

"Whichever god listens, let him live up to his bloodline and legacy. Be a savior and... Save my daughter as well." Her hands fell away from the dagger wound, and she slumped, lifeless, to the floor. The scrying spell died out in the same instant, leaving the room shrouded back into shadow as flames began to spread outside.


	2. Diverge From History

**Chapter 2: Diverge From History**

Warm sunlight on their backs made for good time. A cool breeze with a hint of not-to-distant fall weather made the summer sun that little bit easier to march under.

Chrom was tempted to lengthen his strides and let himself move on ahead to fully enjoy their time under the sun. What stopped him was that he wasn't traveling alone. His sister would never let him hear the end of leaving her behind on her first patrol. While Frederick would be fine alone and easily catch up to him if he mounted up, there was one other person to worry about now.

This was proving to be anything BUT a routine patrol. Chrom wasn't sure if he was happy about that or if he should be apprehensive. His brain then happily reminded him that the knight marching behind him was paranoid and cautious enough for both of them. Frederick the Wary indeed.

However, the woman beside him didn't register as a threat. With how she wobbled along, it looked like she was still trying to remember how to walk. Even Lissa was managing better than she was.

 _'Robin.'_ He tried the name out again. "Are you holding up alright?"

"Well enough. I've got my stamina, even if I don't remember why I was on the road."

Chrom nodded, giving her another glance over.

"It looks like you were packed for some travel, at least. By the way...I was wondering about that sword at your side. Do you know how to use it?" He nodded to the blade hanging on her belt.

In answer, Robin drew the sword free and gave it an experimental toss. Her hand caught it easily, rebalancing the blade so it was ready to cut.

"Apparently I do. But... are you going to be true to your word that I can go free at the village?" Caution edged into her voice, and a small laugh tickled its way out of Chrom's throat.

"Of course! It isn't unheard of for people to have skill with a blade and be wandering the countryside." He assured her. "Particularly since-"

He stopped short as an odd taste in the air scratched at the back of his throat.

Lissa's steps faltered beside him, and a strangled noise made it out of her throat. She found her breath just long enough to squeak out, "Chrom! Look at the town!"

He yanked his head up to see dark clouds blanketing the sky.

 _'Wait.'_ Those weren't clouds. Thick, black smoke boiled up off of the roofs of a town just visible through the trees. The smoke's undersides glowed red and orange from a blaze underneath.

He was off and running towards it before he could think. Behind him, Frederick shouted something about Robin.

"Unless she's on fire too, it can wait!" He didn't even bother to look over his shoulder as he shouted. His eyes stayed fixed on the town, wondering at how fast the flames had spread over it. These were effective brigands they were dealing with to have the town sacked so thoroughly.

Chrom drew his own sword as he dashed into the entrance of the town. A sigh of steel against scabbard countered the pounding of his feet. The flames from the village glinted along the steel, shimmered over the gold cross section and guard.

No one charged out to greet him with steel. The streets stayed empty, apart from choking smoke and flames licking at the buildings.

"Milord, hold a moment."

Frederick's voice drifted in from behind him, along with the clatter of hooves on stone. A second later Chrom heard something hit the ground on shaky feet.

"Thanks for the lift, Frederick," said Lissa. "Wait... where's the brigands? Did you cut through them already?"

"There's no rear guard." Frederick answered, pushing his horse forward. The mare gave a nervous whicker, restlessly stirring on her hooves. "They must be pressing into the town center and quickly." Chrom just gave a nod, and prowled forward as his eyes scanned for any sign of brigands.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone shouted out, "WAIT!"

Chrom whirled around with his sword raised up and ready to strike-

Only to find himself looking at Robin. She panted and coughed for breath as she dashed up. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but she held herself up as she glanced around.

"W-wait. I can help too. I know my way around a fight, if you'll have me." Frederick scowled at that, prompting a few more words out of Robin. "Standing aside as a town burns doesn't sit well with me."

"If we stay here much longer, there won't be a town to save." Chrom stemmed the argument before it could start and turned back to the town. "Come on, we need to hurry."

The air turned a thick ruddy orange, swallowing them up as they picked their way through the streets. Chrom barely made out the space beyond Falchion. The smoke overhead shrouded the summer sun. But instead of providing shade, it still felt like they were in a sauna. Chrom blinked as rivulets of sweat ran over his face, trying to pick out anything through the smoke. Anything other than the specter of a town they'd found themselves in.

"This isn't right..." Frederick murmured behind him, tension seeping into the knight's voice. "There should be something other than fire crackle. Shouts, screams... not all this silence."

The streets widened as they stepped into the town square. The cloth roofs of the stalls all crackled from flames chewing into the wood. And still they waited for an attack that had yet to materialize.

"Where are the brigands?" Chrom murmured, right as his foot bumped against something.

It was something heavy, and it dragged against the stone with a wet noise. Chrom picked out a blackened shape wrapped around a glimmering sickle of metal. He blinked, and the shape resolved itself into a hand clutching an axe. The cloth and flesh were all blackened from flame. It took Chrom a full second to realize the limb wasn't attached to anything else.

"Gods-" he hissed out, throwing out an arm to try and spare Lissa the sight. He acted too late, going by the choking noise she made. Frederick edged his horse closer, and stared down at the limb with a hard, measuring gaze.

"Good steel in that hand. We're dealing with well-equipped brigands... though it seems they are hard pressed to use it well."

The air stirred, drawing away some of the smoke and further revealing the grisly scene.

Broken bodies littered the square. Twisted things that had the life torn and burned out of them. At the sight, Frederick pushed forward and forced Chrom to step aside.

"Keep behind me. ALL of you." He cautioned as Chrom tried to move with him. "From here, I will be taking point."

The sharp edge in his voice stopped Chrom short, and Robin bumped into his shoulder before she froze. That voice and hard look in Frederick's eye killed any protests Chrom had about being looked after.

Frederick's eyes constantly swept the square, as the knight brought his spear up, ready to plunge into anything the moved in front of him. The bodies didn't offer him any threat, however. One lay sprawled across the cobblestones, flames still darting about burned flesh.

Chrom let his eyes sweep over and past it, while Lissa gasped over the corpse and then gagged from the smell. He found himself looking at two more corpses spattered with blood, their robes betraying their identity as spell casters and their spell tomes blackened and singed at the edges.

"The... the direction is all wrong." Robin murmured at his side. "The way they're facing, it looks like they were running AWAY from the town before they were cut down."

Another body lay against a ruined merchant stall, torn open from shoulder to hip by something wickedly sharp. One more had been thrown up against the bridge, his armor torn asunder and a gaping hole where his neck used to be.

"Milord." Frederick's horse sidled as the mare picked up on his tension. "These wounds don't look like they were caused by a blade; the edges are ragged-"

"Frederick, do you have to be so descriptive?" Lissa's eyes fixed on the ground, and she her gripped at her staff like it was a lifeline.

"We need to know what we're up against, milady."

"...He's right. This doesn't look like violence a militia could create. Something tore through these men." Robin added.

"We won't have to worry about an ambush if their forces are like this." Chrom tried to move a little out of Frederick's shadow as he spoke. "I think I can see something ahead..."

A flicker of movement that wasn't smoke, shadow, or flame caught his eye. He broke into a run, darting past Frederick before the knight could stop him. A dark blur shadowed Chrom, Robin running right alongside him. She easily matched his step, while Chrom put all his focus on what was ahead.

 _'We need to know what did this.'_ They dashed between the fallen brigands, and a leap carried them up and onto the bridge. The water steamed underneath them, and their feet scrambled across ash and scorch marks coating the bridge. Ahead of them loomed a cathedral, its spires jutting up into the blackened haze. The stones were blasted black, and Chrom swore there were gouges somehow cut into the stone.

 _'What could do that?'_

"Milord, on your guard!" Frederick shouted a warning, just as Chrom and Robin stopped short. One more form showed through the fire haze. This one still stood, bedecked in plunder and armor and holding an axe up against the sky as he screamed curses.

"AWAY! Stay away, damn you!" The bandit screamed out around a smoke scrapped throat.

Chrom readied himself for an attack, until he realized the bandit had his back to them. The brigand flung his screams and curses up at the air, eyes focused on the cathedral spires.

The smoke wreathing the cathedral swirled as something large stalked through it and hung on the roof. A low rumble of a growl tore at the air, followed by a hiss. The bandit's grip on the axe went bone white.

A roar like thunder barreled down from the roof, and the haze parted in a gout of flame. Fire shot down like a falling star and slammed into the bandit with a vicious cracking sound of breaking bone. His voice went shrill.

Something in silhouette crouched in the heart of the flames as they washed over the broken, screaming form of the bandit. Blue and silver wings on either side of the creature beat at the blaze, stirring it up. A long serpentine neck lashed out, sharp fangs closing around the bandit's neck. With a wet tearing noise and a crackle of burning flesh, his life flickered out.

Leaving them with the dying flames and the thing crouched in them.

"Wh-what- that's not real, right? It can't be a-" Lissa gasped out from behind Chrom.

His own eyes couldn't make up their mind, whether they wanted to stare or look away. The monster was easily as big as Frederick's horse, and the fires washing over it did nothing to make it pause; it was a creature of flame, wonder... and nightmare.

"Dragon..." Chrom whispered out. The heat of the fire vanished off his skin and a chill ran down his spine. His hands shook as they gripped at Falchion.

The dragon gave a low hiss, thrashing its head around and turning its gaze on them. The thing's eyes blazed a bright burning blue, glaring at Chrom while it sunk into a crouch and sized up its new prey.

The inferno cast an orange stain across the dragon's scales. They gleamed silver and streaked with blue on the edges, save for the bloody slash marks along its sides. A few of them looked festering, the natural armor twisted out of shape. As the dragon fanned its wings again and stretched its neck out to roar a challenge, Chrom caught sight of a large punctured rent in its side.

"GET OFF THE BRIDGE!" Robin's voice snapped out as the dragon coiled and sprang up into the air. "We're easy targets like this! We need to get out of the line of fire NOW!"

The dragon plunged towards them, its neck stretched out as flames lit up the back of its throat. Chrom glimpsed Lissa throwing herself to the side, followed by a splashing noise as she hit the water.

"Run, I mean it!"

Robin charged towards him, hand stretched out and trying to pull him out of the way. He felt the air begin to heat around them. A rumbling sound built up overhead, a heavy draw of breath before the flames.

Frederick's horse thundered past him. An armored hand snatched onto Chrom's shoulder and roughly hauled him along the bridge. Chrom's free arm acted by reflex and wrapped around Robin to pull her along with the motion. His side bashed against the bridge arch, but Chrom grit his teeth around the pain and held on.

Behind them, fire slammed into the bridge as the dragon attacked a second too late. Frederick wheeled around on his horse, and Chrom dropped out of his grip. He already had Falchion back up as he hit the ground, and Robin managed to stumble back into a fighting stance as well.. The knight kept his eyes on the sky, watching the dragon churn through the air and twist around from the first strafing run.

Splashing and sputtering, and a yelp of "hot!" down in the river told him that Lissa had gotten out of the way. And that she still knew how to swim.

 _'You damn fool, keep your mind in the fight!'_ His thoughts screamed. He brought Falchion back up. But no matter how he squeezed his hands around the grip, his arms still shook. He'd never fought a dragon; never laid eyes on a flesh and blood one.

 _'The stories didn't exaggerate.'_

Frederick kept his spear up, even if he had as much chance of reaching the dragon as he did flying to the cathedral roof. His mare snorted stamped her feet against the charred streets, but followed Frederick's orders as he placed her between the Shepherds and the dragon.

"The wings. We have to strike the wings." Robin's voice came out in a shudder while her eyes stayed fixed on the wheeling dragon. A strange spark settled in behind them as she watched, and Chrom swore he could hear something whirring inside her brain. "Frederick, if it gets in range, can you hit it and force it to the ground?"

"...Aye. If I have an opening."

Robin gave a short nod at that before turning to Chrom.

"Move with me. We'll draw the fire." She dashed ahead to the center of the cathedral yard, waving a hand to catch the dragon's eye. With a jolt, Chrom realized that she didn't have her sword drawn.

"What are you doing!? How are you going to fight it-?" He almost tripped over the remains of the bandit leader as he followed her. His side ached from the sudden jolt, and he fought to get his balance back.

The dragon swooped down on them, and he picked out something else in Robin's grip. She clutched a book tight to her chest, and lightning crackled around her fingertips.

"Get ready... Now!" she shouted. A bolt snapped free from her hands and into the sky, striking the dragon in the chest. Its burning blue eyes went wide at the impact, a shock lancing through the dragon. With a shriek, it tumbled out of the sky. The blue-tinged wings snapped out as it fought to recover just a spear's width from the ground.

Frederick charged by Chrom and Robin, spear at the ready, and plunged it in the dragon's shoulder before leaping away. The wing collapsed and folded to the dragon's side, and it crashed to the ground. The cobblestones cracked and broke like rotten ice as it skidded along them.

Chrom expected it to rush after Frederick... but instead its eyes stayed fixed on Chrom and Robin. They burned with malice, and the lips lifted away to show every last fang in the creature's maw. Robin froze for an instant under the gaze.

He should have run, just then. Instead Chrom clapped a hand on Robin's shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. The dragon's throat gave a baleful glow, and the jaws opened wide. Fire launched itself out of the dragon's jaws, straight at them.

"Back off!" Robin shouted and threw out her hand to launch another spell bolt.

Lightning arced out to meet dragon flame in an explosion of smoke and energy. Chrom managed one step forward and crouched next to Robin, braced for the impact.

Everything felt strangely muted in the aftermath of the explosion. Smoke settled around the square, mingling with the oily breath of the fire and blinding the eyes. The world slowed down into a foggy haze, cutting out sound.

The dragon stood above the dust, slowly winding its head up to observe the field. Its claws and scales scrapped against the stone, waiting to lash again if anything stirred.

But nothing rose up from the smoke. It threw its head back to roar out in triumph-

Right as Chrom found his strength. His senses snapped back into place as he tensed and launched himself off the ground. The world lurched back into sharp focus as he leapt free of the smoke and dust.

The dragon moved to face him, but all too slowly. Falchion was like a bolt of light in his hand, and slashed out in a brilliant blaze of silver steel. The sword cut into the dragon's throat and Chrom held his breath as the weapon connected.

The thick scales turned from toughened armor to crumpled fragments under the blade's touch. The sword left behind ribbons of bright red blood in its path, along with a pained shriek.

 _'So the tales were true with the sword, too.'_

Chrom found a foothold in the uninjured wing the dragon still had outstretched. He braced against it, launched off it, and plunged sword first into the now open wound in the neck.

The dragon toppled over, neck skewered by the sword. Its entire body convulsed and followed the strike, crashing down like a breaking wave. The tail gave one lash before it fell, and just like that the fight went out of the beast.

Chrom gasped and hunched over the blade, staring down at where the sword bit into flesh and amazed that the blow had struck so true. But the dragon was fallen; he checked the head to make sure it was done.

He found himself looking straight at the creature. Its eyes stretched open, a blue glow still burning in them as the two gazes met. For an instant that blue stare was all Chrom could see. It became his world, and Chrom felt like he was falling into the blaze behind it.

A last dying breath rattled out of the dragon's throat, piercing the blue haze. The fire in the eyes died, and with a gasp Chrom came back to himself. He slumped all the way to the ground, kneeling against the stone street and the dragon's neck. Blood pooling on the ground stained at his knees and bit at the hand he braced against the ground, still hot as it spilled from the fatal neck wound.

"Chrom? Chrom!" His sister's voice reached his ears. "You okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Not... not badly." He managed to find his voice, right as his body reminded him of every bruise he'd picked up on the bridge and how his legs were done with running and jumping. Chrom fastened his hands around the blade before his fingers had a chance to complain and pulled Falchion loose.

"T-tell Frederick to search for survivors. The fight is over; we need to figure out what the damage is." He forced himself to turn away from the dragon as he spoke and pushed the dying gaze out of his mind. Lissa stood next to him, looking a little sodden and with pink skin, but no other damage. When he turned his head he saw Robin climbing back to her feet. She must have been knocked there by the spell blast, but was none the worse for wear.

 _'Good. We need all the help we can get, if we're going to attend to the aftermath.'_

-o-o-o-

"All that, and only one civilian casualty?" Robin shook her head as she listened to the report. Chrom sat close by, leaning against a half crumbled wall as he wiped the last of the blood from his blade. Lissa stood over one of the wounded with her staff extended, a gentle glow settling over the man's injuries. There was no shortage of those, and they easily outnumbered the one death.

"A-aye." The village elder couldn't seem to believe it himself. His eyebrows and beard were both singed, but that was the extent of the damage. "The bandits were ready to put more to the sword and torch, but that was when the dragon arrived. In a way, we're lucky for the beast. It destroyed whatever the bandits didn't burn, but the invaders were busier fighting it instead of killing us."

Robin glanced over the village again, wondering at the extent of that luck. Only a handful of buildings had escaped the ravages, but the stones of the cathedral still stood despite the scorch marks and claws scoured into them.

 _'Amazing we could stand up against something that did that.'_

"Can you rebuild? The crown will gladly send gold to help with the efforts." Frederick spoke up, returning from his own patrol of the wreckage. "I've done my circuit. Swept some of the debris out of the way and tended to the gravel."

"Gravel-?" Robin blinked at him, and Chrom waved her off with a look that said, 'Don't ask. Trust me on this.'

"We should manage." The elder answered. "There's plenty of timber in the surrounding woods, though if you could send a few workers our way in a week, it would be appreciated. The crops were untouched, so we're well provisioned. Perhaps you would like to stay the night?"

Lissa brightened up at that, finishing her healing quick enough to speak.

"Oh! That'd be great; I'd like light meat if you have any, and in the morning we could help clear out more-"

"I thank you for the hospitality, but we need to move out." Chrom cut in, talking over Lissa's outraged squeak.

"CHROM! These people could use a hand you know, and I could use a good meal!"

"We'll provide both in a few days... but the fact is we need to make haste to the capital." Lissa glanced between Chrom, and then at the elder.

"Can't you talk some sense into my brother?" Lissa pleaded with him.

Robin saw the elder rubbing his chin with a worried look.

"My pardons lady Lissa, but your brother speaks the truth... we are dealing with dragons. Tongues will wag plenty over bandits, but dragons..."

"Precisely." Frederick spoke, his eyes narrowed with concern and looking at the blackened stone. "How many years has it been since we've spotted one? I doubt you could find more than a handful of living people to recount the last sighting. And to see one reduced to such a wild state..."

"I'm taking it that's a very bad and rare thing?" Robin asked, looking between the groups. Chrom gave his blade a final swipe to clean it and stood up to sheathe the sword.

"Exactly. It's something that should _never_ happen. We need to report it now, if we're going to protect the people. That's what we do as Shepherds."

"So that's what the title refers to? I thought it was a little odd to tend sheep in full armor..." That prompted a chuckle from Chrom. He breathed a little easier, now that the smoke had dispersed and the air was cleaner.

"We just have a LOT of sheep, in a manner of speaking." He answered, adjusting the buckles on his belt and scabbard, making sure they were in place for a long trek. "Which is all the more reason for us to hurry-"

"Sir? There's something else we'd ask you to attend to before you leave, if you don't mind." Chrom paused, turning to look at the elder. "It's the manner of the deceased, I'm afraid. She was something of an outsider to our village, coming and going."

"Suspicious at all?" Frederick was back to full strength wariness, glancing around as though he expected a new ambush to flood out now that the information had been revealed.

"No, no... Nothing like that. More of a drifter who could never seem to settle. She had gold to pay for a room and gave what aid she could with defenses and training the militia. We have to wonder if that's why she was the one casualty, because they saw her as a threat. But we found this on her body, and cleaned it up. If it pleases you..." The elder pulled a small wrapped bundle from the pockets of his robe.

Robin found herself walking towards the bundle for a closer look along with Chrom. The elder peeled back the layers of cloth as they approached and held up a sheathed dagger for them to inspect.

"Any thoughts?" Chrom asked, looking between the dagger and her. Robin stretched her fingers out, picking the weapon up. It was a light thing in her fingers, better balanced than her own sword. Parting it an inch from the red lacquered scabbard, the steel gleamed. Both edges were razor sharp, while the scabbard was decorated in a gilded vine pattern. At the rim of the sheath, a stamp of metal ran around in a broad ring with a "V" stamped into a metal square.

"Good steel, better quality than the bandits were carrying... and that's saying something." Robin said, tilting her head and watching the gold glimmer in the clearing air. "Ornate, too; it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be carrying something so fancy when they could sell it off for a good price. It's an anomaly, if nothing else."

"Valm...?" Chrom murmured, earning a blink from Robin. "It just looks like something that might be Valm crafted; they're a continent across the sea. And honestly not our main concern. We've a much more troubling and immediate neighbor in the form of Plegia."

"Sir, I feel you should know that the bandits spoke with a Plegian accent. And as for the dagger... we aren't certain if she used the weapon, or was murdered by it. There was too much blood to tell. She must have died during the attack; we never saw her and only found her after the fighting."

Robin frowned over the weapon as the villager spoke. A stab of pity went through her, wondering over the stranger who died alone. The thought made her own weapons feel a little heavier against her sides.

"But she was a victim of the attack... and her killers have already paid for that crime." Chrom answered, drawing her thoughts back to the present. Robin stepped over to Chrom, holding the dagger out for him to take... but to her surprise, he closed her fingers back around the weapon.

"It never hurts to have an extra weapon on you. Besides, knowing me, I'd be more likely to break the thing than do anything useful with it."

Robin paused over the knife in her hands, before finally conceding that he had a point. The knife joined the spell book strapped to her side. As she finished securing the bindings, she found herself glancing over Chrom's shoulders. Some of the village men had gathered around the elder, and she could pick out snippets of their conversations.

"We've just enough tinder gathered for a funeral pyre for her and the dragon. If we are going through with the ceremony, we'll need to do so now. If you think it is wise, of course."

"She died a warrior's death as far as we know, and while she was here she was a kind enough traveler. We may as well send her off respectfully, since no one else is here to do so-" The speaker cut off when Chrom turned to face the group, as something abruptly dawned on everyone when they looked at him.

They looked for all the world like children who'd just been caught at something. Even the elder.

"If... If it is all right by you, sir?" The elder finally murmured. "I'm sorry, we should have asked, but she DOES deserve a good send off. And the dragon... it should be given proper ceremonies to stave off any more misfortune. With your-"

"It's fine." Chrom sighed, holding up a hand to stall the stammering. Even so, a low murmur still built up in the crowd. "You don't need my permission with how you see to your dead and honor them."

"But your fa-"

"I said it's FINE." Chrom snapped, cutting the man off. Frustration gave extra force to his words, enough to quiet those stirring behind the elder. "I protect people. I don't rule them. The only people I command are my soldiers. That's **all**."

Silence greeted Chrom's words. He gave a long sigh as it stretched out, finally turning on his heel and moving towards Frederick and Lissa. Lissa's eyes were wide with concern as she watched her brother, while Frederick simply dipped his head in acknowledgment of the verdict.

Robin could only stare at them, wondering what had prompted the outburst and the sudden intensity in Chrom. Not that she knew how to ask about it.

There were also more pressing issues to worry about. With her adrenaline dying down, weariness was determined to settle over Robin's shoulders. It made her wonder how far she could travel before the sun set on her.

 _'But to where? You don't remember where you were going, or why.'_

"Robin." Chrom stood by Frederick and Lissa, but he looked over his shoulder to her. "You fought well enough, and my instinct says you're no enemy of Ylisse. You're free to go on your way, but..."

He stirred from foot to foot, finally turning to face her all the way. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining us instead?"

"Sir, I must object. We still know nothing-"

Chrom held up a hand, stilling Frederick.

"We know she can fight, and she'll help out strangers because it's the right thing to do. And you might have noticed she was handy with tactics against that dragon. We'd be nursing a lot more than bruises without her."

Chrom's features softened as he looked at her, banishing the last of his outburst. Robin paused over the look of respect in his eyes, and his friendly smile.

"I... I wish I had answers for you." Robin answered. "All of you. It feels like I learned tactics from someone, and it comes so easily to me... but I don't know why or how. For that matter, I don't really have any leads. Or much of a plan for what to do next..."

She trailed off, looking them over again. Lissa had gentle hands and a helpful smile. Frederick, wary as he was, showed clear concern for those in trouble. And Chrom... he was watching her hopefully, waiting for an answer.

"If you'd have me, I'd be glad to go with you." Slowly, a smile of her own traced its way across her face as the decision clicked into place.

"One new Shepherd for the ranks!" Lissa shouted out, while Frederick just sighed in acceptance of the new recruit.

Chrom lifted his hand to her, just like in the field. It could have been days ago instead of hours.

Robin gladly took it, fingers curling against his for just a moment.


	3. The Growing Dark

**Chapter 3: The Growing Dark**

Their shadows stretched out long against the ground when they set out, with the sun setting off to their left. Once they resupplied (or found the supplies they'd dropped at the town entrance) Chrom and Frederick set a fast pace out of Southtown.

The drive to get back to the capital spurred them into a ground-eating march, one that Robin pushed her feet into a quick rhythm to keep up with. Lissa got caught up in it as well, only venturing a few questions on if Chrom felt ok, if he or Frederick needed more healing, or if they could stop for a snack. After the questions (yes, no, and not now) Lissa subsided. When she started to lag, Chrom didn't even pause to make her exhaustion into a conversation or a question. Instead he lifted her onto the saddle and squared her feet into the stirrups so she could ride.

"Don't get too used to it," he cautioned. "We need to be efficient and make good time. This is the best way."

Lissa gave a huff in answer, but didn't argue with Chrom.

"What about Robin? Is she-?"

"Fine. So long as we don't have to march through the night, I'll make do. It looks like I'm used to long travels." Robin said. Her feet backed up that claim, still stepping sure after so many miles.

"Yeah, well... if you need to ride or something, don't keep it to yourself ok? I can trade out!" Lissa squirmed in the saddle as she spoke, her cheeks going pink over the special treatment.

"I will... if I remember knowing how to ride." Robin tried a cautious smile, and was rewarded with a giggle from Lissa. Frederick simply led the horse and walked on ahead, easing the pace back up.

"I take there's no luck with remembering much else?" Chrom asked as they walked, settling in behind Frederick and Lissa.

"None... I wish I could say that the battle jogged my memory. But when I think back on it, all that's on my mind is how I could have deployed us with greater effect. Nothing else." Robin ran a hand through her hair and rubbed at her forehead, eyes narrowing in frustration. She had to have learned how to fight, how to read the flow of battle from _somewhere._ So why couldn't she remember?

"Hey, you don't have to rush it." Chrom said, before her frustration could take a deeper root. "It'll come back eventually, and you can see how you like traveling with us in the meantime."

In the fading light she could just pick out the smile he was giving her. It was a gentle one, which said things would be all right.

"Thanks? You... you still believe me, that I don't remember?"

"Mm, caution is more Frederick's business. He's good enough at it that I don't feel a particular need to exercise it."

"Gods help us if you ever go out alone without my escort. Milord." Frederick answered up ahead. Chrom just grinned at the back of the knight's head.

"Actually I was..." Chrom dropped his voice to a low murmur. "I was wondering about why you knew my name, but not that I'm a... a Shepherd. Usually the title is what people think of, first."

"I wish I could tell you. But it just came to me, if that makes sense. Like I knew your face and your name-" Oh, that sounded more than a little awkward. Robin trailed off and gave a helpless shrug. "Maybe I'll remember more, later."

"As I said, don't feel any pressure to rush remembering. The situation is fine as it is." Robin blinked at that, wondering over how relaxed Chrom was over her not knowing. He was becoming just as much an enigma as her, with that outlook.

"Milord, the shadows are starting to grow darker, and our light won't last much longer. Much as I wish to keep marching on... we may need to stop." Frederick spoke up from the front. "But if we make camp now and rest, we should be able to reach the capital by noon tomorrow."

Robin swore she saw a pained look cross Chrom's face, like that STILL wasn't fast enough. But then he glanced back over the group, and that pained look gave way to a slow nod.

"You're right. We won't do a lot of good marching ourselves ragged."

"I approve of this call!" Lissa called out from horseback. "Besides it's getting dark and I swear I can hear the gross bugs coming out and- PFAH one ouf fhem fhew into my mouf!"

"Just think of it as extra protein, Lissa." Chrom replied, before easily ducking to the side and avoiding the empty vulnerary bottle she flung at him.

"Milord? Perhaps Lissa, Robin and I can see to setting the camp, while you find something other than, ah... 'gross bugs' to eat."

By the time the sun vanished, they had a roaring campfire going, meat cooking on the side, and Lissa had found a different thing to talk about. Or complain about, Robin reflected as she sank her teeth into the meat.

"...I take it all back. Bugs are better than THIS. I never want to hear the word 'bear' again." Lissa stared morosely at the campfire, and the extra meat roasting against the flames.

"I don't get you at all, Lissa. We barely ever get to have bear," Chrom said around his portion.

"For good reason! ...Ugh, I've had enough. I'm going to sleep, and you can have my share, Frederick." Lissa passed her skewer off to the knight. Robin wondered if Lissa looked briefly vindictive. And if Frederick looked a little stricken as he accepted the food.

Lissa dug a blanket out of the packs, wrapping it around herself as she got ready to lay down on the spot. Robin smiled a little as she watched Lissa, but something twitched in the back of her mind when she thought about sleep. A faint memory tugged at her head, of something haunting her dreams. But she couldn't remember WHAT at the moment. Before any nightmares could fully form, Chrom interrupted her thoughts by clearing his throat.

"Um, Lissa? Before you sleep, I wanted to-" a grumbling sound came from beneath the blanket, but Lissa still turned her head up to look at Chrom. "See about setting watches."

"Watches?" Frederick and Lissa echoed at the same time. They glanced at each other, and then back at Chrom.

"Chrom, what's with you? Something got you spooked?" Lissa propped herself up on her elbow as she asked. Chrom's reply was oddly hushed, and Robin leaned in to better hear.

"...I guess. But between the brigands and the dragon, I'm feeling a little on edge. I'd feel better if one of us was awake, instead of having to sleep with one eye open." He let the remains of his food rest on his knee, and a troubled look darkened his face.

"Well... I guess I could take first watch if you want, Chrom?" Lissa offered, until Robin shook her head.

"No, you get some sleep first, Lissa. I rested plenty in that field, and I'm not in any hurry to go back to sleep. I can take first watch."

Robin turned to Frederick, wondering if he'd object to leaving watch duty to her. But to her surprise he wasn't in a hurry to meet anyone's gaze. A closer look showed Robin that his bear skewer had mysteriously vanished, and the flames appeared to have some manner of extra fuel thrown on them.

Robin gave him a knowing smirk... but said nothing. And Frederick seemed content to leave the matter at that, as he clipped off some (though not all) of his armor and lay back.

"He's used to worse conditions," Chrom remarked as Robin stared at the knight. "Sleeping in armor isn't the most challenging thing he's asked to do."

Chrom dropped his voice down to a conspiring whisper. "But... I'll be happy to get him back to Ylisstol where he can at least relax enough to sleep normally. Just don't tell him I said that."

"The secret is safe with me," Robin answered, as Chrom finished his own portion of dinner and started to make himself comfortable. Before he lay down, he gave her a soft "thanks," and Robin wasn't altogether sure which exact thing she was being thanked for.

From there, it was just Robin and the fire. Occasionally she fed it more wood to help it burn, warming her hands by the flames and watching the cinders rise up into the night sky to mingle with the stars. The pop and crackle from the logs joined with insect chirps, making for a relaxing night.

A calm evening, until a new sound cut in. It was a restless, shifting noise as someone tossed and turned. Robin blinked away from the fire, wondering who. A quick scan showed no intruders, so instead she looked to the others. Lissa and Frederick slept easily, which left-

"Chrom?" She whispered out as her gaze fell on him. He'd half thrown his blanket off, showing his face scrunched up. His eyes were shut tight, and he was a slave to whatever played out behind them. In the firelight Robin picked out sweat beading his brow and mussing his hair. He gave another lurch, and his feet kicked out.

The blanket fell down a little more, giving him more material to tangle himself up in. He twisted around and mumbled half spoken words. A desperate, almost scared edge snuck into to his voice as he whispered and whimpered something.

That almost-cry in his voice was what decided Robin. She left her spot by the fire and crept over to him. Chrom somehow heard her footsteps over his own muttering, and his thrashing grew worse. Robin paused for just a moment, until he gave a pained gasping noise. That sound spurred her hands out, and Robin rested her palms on his shoulders, getting a grip between his jolts.

"Chrom," he stilled for a moment from the contact, and her voice. In the pause, her fingers drifted over the odd mark on his shoulder. She glanced at it for a moment, wondering-

The moment only lasted until Chrom took another shuddering breath. He fought under her grip, squirming and writhing and trying to escape something in his sleep. His eyebrows furrowed, and he gave a strained "no," just audible in the back of his throat. Robin grit her teeth, and gave him a harder shake as she leaned down to shout into his ear "CHROM!"

THAT got him up. Bolting straight upright in fact. Directly into her face.

His nose bashed into hers, and stars exploded in her vision. Robin jolted back, clapping her hands over her face and gave a muffled shout followed by a string of oaths. Though with her hands in the way it came out sounding more like "MHHRGLGHRRMTFHK!"

The same impact slammed Chrom back into the ground with a garbled curse of his own. Through the tears streaming out of her eyes, Robin saw him clutching at his face. It took him a few dazed blinks before his eyes and brain cleared up enough to focus on something outside of his swollen nose.

"R-robin?" He managed through his hands, as he stared up at her. "What...?"

"Nightmare." Robin's voice came out clipped. She forced herself to take a deep breath, and speak a little more evenly; what happened wasn't exactly his fault. "You were having a nightmare, and I tried to wake you up... with my face."

 _'If I'm going to blame him, I might as well start in on myself too for leaning too close. Should've known better.'_ At least he was awake... though with how much her own face hurt, she had to wonder if he was better off with the nightmare.

"...Oh." Chrom managed. "That explains why my nose feels like a pomegranate."

Robin took her hands away from her face and looked at them. She hissed when she saw blood on the palms and fingers, and it looked like Chrom wasn't in any better shape.

"Sorry, Robin. I didn't- wait, hang on just a second." He lurched up, still keeping a hand clamped over his face and making his words muffled. Chrom staggered over to the bags and dug around for something, finally coming up with a bottle. The vulnerary inside sloshed around against the glass sides.

"...Are you sure?" Robin stopped herself from rushing up and emptying the bottle across her face, much as she wanted to. Worry and planning interrupted the desperate desire to have her nose stop throbbing. "Don't you think we might need that later?"

"We've got spares in the bag. Besides, my nose hurts NOW and you look as bad as I feel."

"Thanks." Robin said dryly. Still, she didn't need any further coaxing to walk over to Chrom, and held her hands out.

"No, let me," he stalled her, fishing a square of fabric out from the bag and dumping some of the healing potion onto it. She let her hands fall away as Chrom brought the cloth up and dabbed at her face. For an instant her cheeks went hot, and Robin was desperately glad the potion was doing its work with healing. It felt like there was A LOT of blood rushing to her face, and she didn't want it all to go leaking out through her nose.

Still, it would be nice to have something to focus on other than those hands right up against her face. Her body told her that it was clearly not used to that type of close contact. Least of all from someone she'd just met. Her eyes darted every which way, before noticing there was blood on him as well.

"Chrom, do you have a spare cloth? As long as we're being honest with each other, your face also looks like a complete mess." That got an almost-chuckle out of him as he ducked his head, and his free hand grabbed one more cloth.

"Here. Let me." Robin took it up and made an improvised, vulnerary soaked bandage of her own. She held it up to his face, also wiping his nose clean before going to staunch the bleeding. With that done, her eyes darted around the campsite and saw no one else had stirred. "I'm not sure to be grateful that you've chosen deep sleepers, or concerned. Even the horse hasn't done anything."

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure that hurt a lot more than any sounds we made." Robin almost snorted at that, before remembering she was trying to get her nose healed up. Chrom took his hand away from her face, and Robin tilted it up to the night, trying desperately get some cool air across her overheated face. But just like that, Chrom's hand tugged her chin back down as he gave a chastising noise. "Let me get a good look at you... ok, good. You're looking better. You shouldn't even have a black eye in a few more minutes."

He took his hands away, and they took up the job of holding the cloth to his face. Robin noticed for a moment that his cheeks also looked oddly flushed.

Maybe busted noses just did that to people, and left them looking like overripe tomatoes. After a few deep breaths, Chrom took the cloth away, showing that his face was mostly clean.

"Well, that's one crisis out of the way." He said in relief. Robin gave a nod and turned back to the campfire to sit. The grass rustled and crunched underfoot, as Chrom moved past her. But instead of laying back down, he paused for a moment. "Robin? You mind if I take a seat too? I don't think I'm going to get back to sleep anytime soon."

"Heart still pounding?" She asked as she patted a patch of dirt beside her. Chrom slumped down with a small 'thanks.' "I can't really criticize; it might take a while for mine to slow down from all of that."

"Yeah..." Chrom answered, putting his chin on his knees and looking back into the flames. He slumped forward, looking tired and oddly drained.

"Hey, Chrom? Do you... mind if I ask what happened?" He glanced away from the fire with a small 'huh?' "Your... whatever it was you were dreaming about. Like I said, it looked like you were having a bad nightmare."

"Pretty sure I was." Chrom answered, propping his head up on his hand as he watched her. He lost that tired look for a moment, ducking his head in a bashful gesture. "I guess it's my turn to say I don't remember. Just that it wasn't anything good."

"Yeah, I could sort of tell as much. Sorry that I didn't wake you up any more gently. I got worried when I saw you."

"I won't be too cross with you if you just throw some water on me next time. But... I appreciate it, even if I can't remember what I was dreaming about. Just that it wasn't good." He took a deep breath, sliding his eyes shut as his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"...I still have that dragon fight weighing on my head, I guess." He admitted. "And I'm also going to guess you don't remember a lot about them, going by the village conversation."

"No. But we've both got some time to kill," Robin offered.

"We do." Some of the tension eased off of him at that. "Well you see... dragons are almost sacred here. We venerate Naga the most."

As he spoke, his fingers went up to brush the brand on his shoulder. Robin paused over the mark, a memory trying to find a foothold in her head. There was _something_ familiar about it, something she should have recognized. But the thought flickered out as Chrom continued.

"She's known as the divine dragon. And she was the one that helped the hero king, the first of our country's royal line, to seal a fell dragon into the earth. She ushered in an age of peace after long war." He lost some of that tired look as he told the tale. "They're RARE here, too. That was the first time I ever saw a dragon that wasn't in a tapestry or a stained glass window."

Robin nodded and shut her eyes. Thinking back, she could just remember a dragon painted into the glass of the cathedral, brilliant white in color. She opened them back up, giving Chrom a tentative nod.

"We... there's a few tales about knights fighting dragons. There are evil ones, like what Naga sealed in the first place. If I'm honest, I used to pretend I was a hero in stories like that. Silly, I know." Chrom leaned back and picked up his sword as he spoke; even in his nightmares, it hadn't gone very far from him.

"But most of the tales are about dragons guiding people, protecting them. Sort of like what we do as Shepherds now... do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think I do. It explains why seeing one acting like... THAT is so worrying."

"Right. It just doesn't happen. And... I never thought I'd be scared of killing a dragon. Like I said, I used to pretend. But what happened there..." Chrom tried to mask a shiver moving up his back and through his arms by gripping the sword hilt. "Sometimes the stories talked about the powers they have. I didn't know that looking into their eyes and almost getting swallowed up by what was behind them was part of that."

"That's what happened to you?" She'd only just glimpsed it through the town's smoke and her place on the stones, but it explained a lot. Chrom bobbed his head up and down once. She saw an echo of his nightmare playing across his face, and the dark circles gathering under his eyes.

Even though he was awake, vulnerability clung to him.

Her hand stretched out. It drifted towards his marked shoulder, and for an instant her eyes caught up on the brand over her own hand. The purple color shone bright against the orange firelight. Her hand hovered in the space for a moment, unsure if her help was wanted. When she hesitated, Chrom looked up, saw the gesture, and gave her a wane smile. That was all her hand needed to bridge the gap and lay on his shoulder in a little bit of comfort. Chrom's eyes drifted to the mark on her own hand, but just like in the field he didn't comment on it.

"Chrom?" She found her voice. "You... you did what you had to do. Maybe I don't know a lot about dragons, but I do know that a lot more people would've died if you didn't stop it. We'll get back to this Ylisstol place, you'll make your report to your commander, and we'll figure out what to do from there, ok?"

"My commander-?" He choked on a laugh that forced its way out of his throat, though Robin couldn't see what was so funny. "Sorry, sorry. But you're right. We'll figure it out."

He laughed one last time, settling. "Thanks; I think inviting you to join us was the smartest thing I did today. I certainly don't regret it, at least."

 _'And I'm starting to see why your soldiers follow you so well.'_ Robin mused, before pushing the thought out of her head. Her face had finally cooled off and she didn't want to give it a reason to start burning up again.

Instead she opened her ears back up to their surroundings; she hadn't been paying as close attention as she should have. The insects had all gone quiet, along with the nighttime birds. The silence was as sharp as a knife slash, cutting through the familiar night noise. All they had left was a crackling fire.

Chrom's shoulder tensed up under her hand. He must have noticed too, from how he glanced around. Something in the air set Robin's teeth on edge, and pushed a shiver up through Chrom's back.

"Something's-" Chrom started to say, cutting off when a snapping sound echoed across the camp. A twig breaking underfoot, Robin realized belatedly. Her head shot up towards the sound, Chrom's gaze following hers. It took just a moment of searching to pick out a figure in the woods, moving towards them.

And her blood went completely cold at the sight.


	4. Arise

**Chapter 4: Arise**

The stranger said nothing to break the silence.

It wasn't hard to see the figure moving towards them. His bulky form was cleanly silhouetted against the stars and moonlight streaming through the forest branches. That outline was easy enough to pick out, but the features less so, remaining shrouded in shadow. In fact the only thing distinct was an odd shuffle to the man's step.

While her eyes stayed stuck on the stranger the rest of her senses shivered to life. Robin swore the earth gave a low hum; a vibration thrumming up where her hands and feet touched the ground. Almost like something was stirring deep underneath them and her head hummed in time to it.

Meanwhile her heart tried to pound its way out of her chest, and she couldn't figure out WHY.

 _'Why are you so paranoid? It's just a traveler in the woods. Just one man.'_ She desperately told her pulse, trying to quiet it and still the prickling moving up her back. To distract herself from all the sensations Robin dug her gloves out from the coat pockets and pulled them back on.

"Ah... Hail to you, traveler." Chrom broke the quiet, raising a hand and letting the sword fall to the ground and rest next to the supplies.

"You... are certainly out late. But if you want shelter or food for the night, you're welcome to our campsite if you wish." The stranger said nothing. Instead he moved closer with a raspy noise in the back of his throat.

"Chrom..." she whispered caution to him. There was something almost... broken to the man. The stranger's limbs hung to either side and his feet dragged in the dust with a strange shambling lurch. Almost as though he was half alive.

 _'Or half dead.'_ Robin thought with a jolt. Her hand cast around, fingers searching for the hilt of her own sword or the edge of her spell book. Their travelers packs could have been miles off from how her hands felt only soil underneath.

The figure remained shadowed. The fire spat embers, which reflected off the axe in his hands. A few stray flits of burning wood caught red in his eyes. Even with the firelight, Robin couldn't pick out anything from the darkness stuck around his face-darkness that was seeping from his slack mouth, pouring from the old wounds cut into his face.

Her stomach had been weak before. Now the bottom fell out of it when she realized what she was looking at.

Chrom sucked in his breath and surged to his feet right as the walking corpse rushed them. A blur of motion and an explosion of wet dirt filled the air as supplies scattered from the clash. Chrom scrambled to grab a sword and raised it to block the downswing from their attacker. Sparks flew from where the steel crashed together.

Robin didn't think that sword of his was capable of setting sparks like that. The surface would need to be as rough as-

As her own blade. Chrom wasn't holding the gilded two-handed weapon he'd wielded against the dragon. Instead his hands clutched the hilt of a battered and worn bronze blade. HER blade, Robin realized with a hard jolt.

The dulled metal clashed against the axe in the other's hands, barely holding against the wicked axe edge. With their enemy so close, rot and decay assaulted her nose. The smell choked the air around them, so nauseating that it banished any hope that this was a bad dream. It was all too real.

And Chrom was facing a living nightmare without his best weapon.

Beyond the fire Frederick roused from the commotion in a rattle of metal. The knight tried to get to his feet, but moved too slowly. The weight of his armor and his exhausted limbs dragged him down. His horse screamed and thrashed from where she'd been tied, trying to break loose. When Frederick managed to stand he had his hands full with calming her. Nearby Lissa was blinking awake, trying and failing to take in what she was looking at.

"Frederick! Protect my sister, I can handle whatever nightmare this is!" Chrom yelled out, his teeth showing for an instant. A determined glint settled behind his eyes as he steeled himself. His muscles shone against the glow of the fire and he just managed to turn aside another blow from the axe.

The corpse lurched forward, pressing the attack. Its bones popped when it brought the axed around for another swing. Chrom brought the old sword back up, adjusting for the weight and change in quality as well as he could. Robin's old sword wasn't a peerless weapon, and against that thing he needed a better edge.

 _'Where's the gods blasted sword!?'_ Robin cursed under her breath as Chrom slashed at the enemy. He could have been using a practice sword for all the good his strikes did. He barely slowed the walking corpse with his cuts. But Chrom kept his feet planted in the ash and dust, his back to her and the sword always between them.

Giving her time to look for the right blade, Robin told herself as she wrenched her eyes away from the fight. She desperately searched for the familiar bright golden shimmer of the hilt and cross guard. Behind her Chrom growled as he threw back another attack, reminding her to hurry-

Her eyes rested on the fire. Bits of wood still burned bright. Their glow was bolstered by something glimmering inside the heart of the flames, giving a golden shine to the light.

At least she'd found Chrom's sword. It rested in the campfire, kicked into the blaze when the scuffle broke out. Now it lay bathed in the flames. The sword easily stood up against the heat; not even the leather of the handle was scorched.

 _'Your hand is a different story-'_ Her thoughts warned Robin as she reached for the grip, already feeling the heat on her skin.

A ringing crash yanked her head up from the flames. Chrom hit the ground with a thud and almost reached Robin's feet as he rolled from the force of the attack. Chrom stared up from his spot on the ground, holding a broken blade between himself and the corpse.

The corpse advanced on them, raising its axe up in a vicious cut. It looked ready to bury the blade into flesh, and Robin flinched away. She already knew cringing wouldn't be enough to save her when the axe fell.

"ROBIN, LOOK OUT!" Before the blade found its mark, Chrom threw himself back up and into the path. His armored shoulder crashed into the enemy, forcing it backwards and away from her. He grit his teeth as the axe lashed out, parting the air-

And biting into his bare shoulder. Chrom howled in pain but didn't give an inch. His head ducked down, and he threw all his weight against the corpse. He sent it skidding back as he slumped down, clamping a hand to his shoulder. A messy red line cut itself across his skin.

His scream forced her to move.

Robin didn't think. Didn't plan for anything. Instead she reacted, her hand going to the hilt as the fire bit into the leather of her gloves. The brown material turned black and curled away in the heat, leaving the flesh of her hand exposed. Pain bit into her palm once her fingers closed around the sword hilt and she wrenched hard. The sword came loose, and the top of her hand crashed into a burning branch. Spots and a strange flash of something purple draped over her vision. Robin grit her teeth against the pain and the sight, and yanked the sword clear.

"Chrom!" His name shrieked out between her teeth. He turned to face her, his motion overlapping with Robin throwing the sword out to him. Free from the flames, the blade gave a strange blue glimmer as it cut through the air.

If she pushed her pain aside, Chrom did the same. He snapped himself upright, stretched out a hand and effortlessly caught the sword. Robin winced when his fingers closed around the grip, waiting for the heat to register in his hand... but nothing passed across his face that wasn't already there. Chrom didn't so much as wince from the heat that had to still be coating the blade. With a hiss of breath he pushed aside the pain radiating out from his shoulder and running along his arm in a red coating.

Chrom turned around with the blade twirling in his hands. The sword sang and cut, slicing the wood handle of the axe, and buried itself in the neck of the corpse in one clean cut.

The sword parted armor and skin with a wet slice. Chrom ripped Falchion out with a vicious diagonal cut as the dead flesh gave way from the heat of the blade. The walking corpse turned into a collapsing corpse with that attack; just a collection of bones crumbling to the ground and turning to a boiling purple mist.

The woods went silent.

An ache spread through Robin's hand to fill the pause, dulled only by the adrenaline still coursing through her. She saw a scorched and red mess that vaguely resembled a hand, crisscrossed with burned webs of blackened leather.

"Chrom!? Chrom are you ok?" Lissa's voice cut in, followed by feet pounding towards them. Lissa stared at her brother, staff already held up. Frederick followed close behind leading the horse. The mare's eyes rolled, and she stamped the ground. Frederick fought to control her, looking between the mare, the dissolving mist, and Robin and Chrom.

"What was-?" Chrom cut Frederick off, raising a bloody hand while the other clung to his sword.

"H-hold. Hold Lissa. Frederick. This isn't done." In the back of her mind, Robin felt the same. That feeling of dread wasn't done with her yet.

 _'But why-?'_

An instant later she got her answer.

She'd pushed the hum of the earth to the back of her mind during the fight. Now it barreled back into her senses as the ground heaved and pitched.

Lissa stumbled against Frederick and hung onto him. Robin was hard pressed to keep her feet and staggered like a drunk. She looked over to Chrom, and saw that his eyes were fixed on some point in the sky.

She followed his gaze, just in time to see a cliff push itself free from previously flat forest ground. With a scream like the earth was dying, a blaze of orange and red burst out of the ground like blood from a wound. It stained the sky red and set the forest alight with fresh fire.

Robin's hand burned in time to the flames climbing up the tree trunks. Cinders and embers fell all around them like a burning rain. Nearby Chrom flinched, clutching at his shoulder. The tightness in his hand echoed Robin's, with how much hurt must have been moving through him.

Even with the ache Chrom kept his head lifted up to the sky, entranced. Robin's eyes were also fixed upwards.

By all rigts, they should have been terrified with what was going on.

Instead she felt strangely distant, almost floating as she stared up at the blazing sky. Robin's breath froze in her lungs, waiting for something more. A voice in the back of her mind screamed at her to stop staring and do something.

That voice went silent as a ripple moved through the night sky.

A tear opened in the stars, lined with silver. Bands of gold and symbols flickered to life around it. The rent yawned open all the way, taking the shape of a massive teal eye, burning with the same blue fire as the dragon's eyes.

Next to her, Chrom made a gasping noise.

"Like... before..." Chrom whispered out in a dazed voice. Robin stared up, barely able to breathe around a tight throat and feeling like she could fall into the blue-

"MILORD, GUARD UP!" Frederick's voice tore apart the lightheaded feeling. Chrom winced next to Robin, pulling his eyes from the sky to look at Frederick. The knight's hand pointed out to a figure in yellow and cream.

"Lissa?" Chrom's voice was sluggish. But the name and the sight snapped Robin's thoughts back into motion. She saw how Lissa was tensed up, and edging away from something closing in around the camp circle-

Corpses, just like the one Chrom had put down a moment ago. There were more shambling out of the woods, forming a tight noose around their group and focused on the one with the least defense. Unlike Chrom, Lissa didn't have a sword to ward them off with. She raised her staff up for all the good it would do her against a chunk of dead reanimated flesh swinging steel.

"Lissa!" Chrom screamed out, jolting forward. Robin's eyes darted between Lissa, the Risen, and Chrom's feet. They desperately churned against the ground but she already knew he wouldn't be fast enough. He wasn't going to reach her in time.

For all the good it would do, Robin fell in behind him. Her steps were slowed with how her hand ached, and the world spun around her. She still felt the eye above, burning into her back.

None of that mattered just then. Not when her thoughts kept scrambling, tried to plan, but could only reach one answer; she was going to have to watch Lissa die, and could do nothing about it.

-o-o-o-

The swordswoman ran from one inferno into another.

The flames were separated only by a wavering tunnel of blue magic that stretched out impossibly long. It was a nearly futile task to run through to the end. Rivulets of sweat ran down her forehead and stuck underneath her mask. Through the slits she felt the fires of a city fade away, the heat barely clinging to her back.

Ahead of her another fire took its place. In the place of screams and burning flesh a forest fire stung at her eyes and nose. She forced herself to keep running, even while the air went thick around her and seared in her lungs.

The burning forest stretched out before her, and the spell she tumbled through gave her a bird's eye view. Fire swept through the pines with an appetite, throwing up thick orange tinted clouds.

Through the branches she picked out four people; a knight in armor, a girl holding a staff up, and-

Two figures. Her eyes fixed on them and how their gazes were held to the sky and the flames. Even at this distance it was clear something held them entranced. They didn't even see the forms shambling through the forest towards them.

Forms about to blindside them if she didn't get there first. The figures in white and black turned too slowly as the knight shouted out a warning.

"LISSA!"

The swordswoman stretched a hand out towards the end of the tunnel, desperately trying to puncture through the spell and reach where she had to be. Her breath came out in a strained squeak-

And just like that, her hand broke through the barrier. The full heat of the fire washed over her fingers as she fell through. The spell gave up its hold on her, and gravity took its place.

She dropped out of the sky.

The gentle blue glow of the magic was ripped like caul from her eyes, leaving her choking on smoky air. Just enough magic stuck to her limbs to soften the fall, though the impact still rattled her teeth when her feet smacked the forest floor. The shock sent her heart pounding into overtime.

Just then she welcomed that and the extra burst of adrenaline. It granted her fast feet and an even faster sword arm. She couldn't kill the thing threatening the girl in yellow, but she could stop the axe. With barely a breath before it crashed into the healer she leapt between the blade and met it with her own sword, half drawn over her shoulders.

The back of her neck prickled with sweat, and her arms took up the task of shaking from impact. She tried to gasp out for help; the words barely rasped out of her throat.

The swordsman in white was close by, judging by the strangled, furious noise working out of his throat. She threw the strike back and spun about, just in time to see another blade cleaving the air and into the corpse soldier. Her own blade mirrored it, finding half dead flesh before the enemy had time to flinch. The corpse collapsed with a strangled noise, already fading into nothing.

"Lissa...?" The swordsman whispered in a strange, choked, nearly _weak_ voice that tried to push numbness into her own limbs. He was rewarded with a tiny voice.

"I-I'm still here, Chrom."

Then she truly did freeze as the name clicked into place. The gravity of the situation, of who she was REALLY looking at threatened to choke the swordswoman and crush her under the weight.

 _'If you hesitate, if you falter then ALL of you are dead, and the spell was for naught.'_ The thought hissed into place and spurred her to act.

"Quite an entrance." Chrom found his voice before she did. "What's your name, sir?"

She had to swallow around a dry throat and didn't bother to correct his perception of her.

"You... you may call me Marth." Her voice came out in a deepened growl, reasonably like a young boy. It was clearly enough to keep the illusion up for Chrom and his companions. Before he could ask any more questions Marth held a hand up.

"No time to bandy words around. The next wave is upon you." A low groan drifted through the trees at her words.

"That's... a lot of dead things." Lissa managed, counting the oncoming foe as Marth readied her blade. Beside her Chrom shifted back into guard.

"Stay behind me, Lissa. Robin... stay close. Watch my back."

Marth glanced back to the young prince. He held Falchion up, ignoring the rent in his shoulder and glaring down the blade. His eyes held a promise that not a single corpse would breach their defenses again. Even with a bloody arm, he was still finding strength from somewhere to hold Falchion straight.

Marth could match that strength and conviction. She surged forward to meet the approaching foes, her own sword dancing in her hands.

It helped knowing they didn't fight alone... even if the others didn't realize it yet. She canted her head to the side, waiting and listening-

Hoof beats filled her ears, along with a voice pitched into full battle cry.

"DRAW STEEL, RUFFLES! PUNCH THROUGH THE BASTARDS!"

Chrom hesitated and jerked his head around. Marth found herself looking back as well.

Something new barreled through the woods with a snort of breath and a flash of hooves caving in the face of one of the corpses. A white coated horse plunged forward with a figure in red armor atop it. The rider gave another yell as she laid about with a spear. A second later three arrow shafts hissed out through the trees, finding their mark as an archer stepped through the forest. The carnage of the battle barely ruffled him, and his feet seemed trained to sidestep any blood or stray limbs pooling on the ground.

"Captain Chrom!" The figure on the horse shouted. "You left some of the bastards for us?"

Chrom's best answer was raising a hand to the fighter before plunging into the fray as well. Marth followed close behind.

Dead things were no stranger to her blade. It was almost horrifying with how easy it was to step between their blows and separate their flesh, shearing their limbs and parting heads from their bodies.

 _'Not as strong,'_ the thought raced across her mind. It was true; these didn't have quite the same strength as what she'd fought before. They hadn't worked themselves into full ferocity, didn't have the full strength of a dark power behind them.

Their blades were still plenty sharp, however. She knew that when one licked a fresh line of pain along her elbow. She almost dropped her blade and had to retreat back-

Only for Chrom to charge past her, burying Falchion in their enemy's neck. The tactician Robin followed close behind him. She didn't use a blade. Instead she clung to her spell book and unleashed bolt after bolt of thunder. Neither of them let their wounds slow them.

If anything, Marth was hard-pressed to keep up.

The rest dissolved into a flurry of sword swipes, crackling spells, and smoke choked air. And all through it Marth held her own with those rumored to fight like dragons.

-o-o-o-

Chrom blinked his eyes and felt strength fade out of his limbs. With it went the battle haze that had crept into his brain. He shook his head, feeling like he was finally waking up.

"That's..." his breath came out in gasps. "That's the last of them, I think."

"Yeah..." Robin's breath came hard as well. "I think we can thank the new one for taking care of the rest."

Robin pivoted as she spoke, lifting her head up enough to look at Marth. The boy stood alone against the forest, with no sign of the others close by. He kept his hair cropped short, the rest of his features hidden behind an odd, winged mask. Chrom blinked over it, wondering how many more strange things they could fit into one night.

"Thank you for your help," Chrom turned to Marth, only to see that the boy had already put some distance between them. The newcomer held a hand to stall him from approaching.

"Loathe as I am to say, that was just a taste of what comes next. This night was a warning for what you face."

Chrom blinked over the cryptic words. In the corner of his eye, he saw Robin tilt her head before rubbing at it. He was pretty sure he could feel a dull ache building behind his own eyes but still managed a few more words.

"What do you-?"

"B-before you do anything else," Marth's words hitched. Some sort of emotion clouded his voice, but what exactly it was Chrom wasn't sure of. His focus still wasn't sharp enough for that.

"You should get that shoulder looked at. Both of you must tend to your wounds." Chrom blinked and glanced over at his shoulder, only to give a disgusted noise. He hadn't picked up many more cuts during the fight, but that one wound in his shoulder looked determined to make up for it. Blood seeped from the cut and ran down his entire arm, leaving it in a red ruin.

Robin glanced at her own hand and it finally registered to Chrom that it was just as much of a mess. When he looked up, the Marth had vanished into the woods. He heard someone crashing through the underbrush behind him and turned to see Lissa staring at him and Robin.

"Don't vanish like that! You made me think that you were dead in a ditch somewhere-" She trailed off when she took in their injuries. "...Or like you're about to fall over dead. Let me look at those, NOW."

Before Chrom could argue she rushed over to him, shaking her head and raising her staff up. A pale light emitted from it and a prickling sensation sprung up along Chrom's shoulder as the wound finally closed.

Chrom watched it mend and felt a familiar presence at his side.

"You gave us a fright." Frederick's voice was mild; a sure sign that he was keeping his own emotions and thoughts in check. Frederick's eyes looked over the wound and narrowed over just how grisly it looked.

"Frederick, can you wipe that gash down, so we can make sure it heals well? Robin, let me take a look at you." Lissa tossed a roll of bandages, which Frederick deftly caught.

"You... you don't have to fret over me so much. I'm alright." Robin argued.

"Robin, your hand is half burned off! You'll be lucky if you can still use it!" A healing glow drowned out the night again. Over the light and ringing chime of the staff, Chrom could still make out Robin protesting.

"But it doesn't hurt..." A sharp inhaling noise cut Robin off, and he knew Lissa was deep into her work.

"I'll be the judge of how bad your wounds are, ok? Leave it to me, and hopefully you'll still have a hand by the end of things."

"Listen to the little lady," came a new voice. The rider from the battle approached on foot, leading her horse. "Trust me, she knows her way around a sickbay... And is a right damn terror if you get her going."

"Sully," Lissa remarked to Robin with a glance at the cavalier, "Has finally gotten it into her head how to be a good patient. I'm hoping I have to drill you less over that."

Chrom gave a brief smirk as he saw Robin nod. "Um... got it."

"By the way, Chrom," Sully added. "I brought you some fresh meat for the Shepherds. He stuck like a bur to me all through the fight and wouldn't leave."

"I wouldn't dream of leaving you so unattended, my fair Sully!"

Chrom paused over the new voice... and did his best not to smile any wider as Sully rolled her eyes. Wounded shoulder or not, he didn't think she'd let him off lightly if she saw him grinning.

"I think I know that voice." Chrom said.

"You don't meet many people with that accent, or that choice of words." He shifted under Frederick's care and picked out a long haired man standing just behind Sully's horse. Even after a pitched battle, the newcomer looked immaculate. "It's... Virion, right? I've heard of your- erm... exploits."

"Ah, my reputation precedes me!" The man all but preened while Sully grumbled.

Chrom raised his hand before the archer could continue or an argument could break out.

"Can... can we save the introductions for later, if it's alright?" His elbow itched and tickled from where a thread of blood dried on the skin. It was worse on the edges of his fingers, which had gone sticky and clammy. He couldn't peel his gloves off fast enough.

"I share your sister's concern. It's a wonder you haven't passed out." Frederick finished cleaning the skin as he spoke and set to wrapping the wound. "It's no flesh wound, that much is certain."

"And I share Robin's opinion; it looks worse than it feels." He felt a small flicker of relief that their wounds were the worst of any injuries. But it swiftly faded out as he thought over the fight. Somehow in the span of a day and a night, fireside tales were turning into truth.

Chrom's mouth settled into a grim determined line as he glanced over to Robin and Lissa. His sister lifted Robin's hand, wrapping the last of the bindings around her palm to hold some sort of poultice in place. Another glance showed Chrom it was one of the last bits of vulnerary to help speed her healing. All at once he was well aware of how they'd used up some it on a less important injury... and Robin chose just then to look and read the concern on his face.

'Told you,' her smile said in a strained sort of way.

"Well?" Chrom found himself asking. "What's your verdict?"

"We had just enough medical supplies to staunch everyone's wounds. Robin won't be able to use a sword, or hold much of anything in that hand for a few days at the absolute least, but..." Lissa trailed off. She gave the hand a confused blink, like she still couldn't believe what she was treating. "She was right; once the ash and burned skin was wiped clean, it didn't look as bad as I was afraid of. She'll heal up the same as you, with just some scars to show for it."

"In other words, we're all fit enough to march." Chrom stood up, shrugging Frederick off when he felt the last of the bindings settle into place. With the bandages fresh and tight over his shoulder, he ran his fingers over the covered wound. "We should hurry back to Ylisstol, before anything else happens to us."


	5. Homecoming

**Chapter 5: Homecoming**

Robin slid an arm under Chrom's shoulder. He looked ready to collapse right at the gates when he saw Ylisstol was safe, and she didn't want to risk that. The march was the hardest on him, thanks to how he'd taken point all through the night. His legs showed that with how they wobbled. Her own limbs felt like jelly, and they'd all but ran the last mile to the city when it came into sight.

Robin had to admit that seeing sunlight shimmer off white buildings had a way of being worth it. It felt like they'd finally woken up from a nightmare and into the beautiful morning.

"Dragons, walking corpses, and whatever other nightmares came to life, they haven't reached the capital." Chrom echoed her thoughts as he sighed out, not caring that it took an extra person to keep him standing.

"Ah, thank... thank someone. I'm too tired to think of what specific god I should be thanking." Lissa's words and feet both tripped over themselves. She barely managed to stagger towards them and take the lead. "But Emm must be okay. And now we can all get to the palace before we pass out on the street. Not a very noble image to cut, right?"

 _'Noble?'_ Robin had a second to wonder. Then her brain decided it was too tired to ask anymore questions outside of where she could sleep. When Lissa pushed in past the gates, Robin was all too ready to follow and drag Chrom along with her. He mumbled a complaint before matching steps with Robin.

While her mind was exhausted, her eyes still had enough energy to stare at the capital as they moved through the streets. Brilliant white main buildings and streets seemed to grow out of a verdant hill, offset by a patchwork of newer and differently colored buildings near the base.

"Never seen a city like this, I take it?" Chrom spoke up, easing himself away from her shoulder.

"Never... even remember seeing something like this. I've never seen this many people in one place. How do so many even manage?"

"Having an Exalt guiding them helps... Though I've got to admit, it's a little charming to see you THIS stunned." Lissa chimed in. "But... you also look like you're going to be the first one to keel over."

"True, and one's bearing and demeanor IS important." Virion stepped up next to her, offering Robin an arm. "We should see about getting you to a resting place."

Robin couldn't argue with that, working her way slowly through the streets with Virion. Lissa giggled with how she stared, but still wedged herself between Robin and Chrom and helped them both along. It freed up Robin's eyes to wander.

Banners were strung between buildings like lines of oddly shaped and colored laundry. All of them were decorated with patterns and crests; white trees on green fields made for a forest of cloth splashed with a few other colors. A handful of sewn dragons stalked among the banners, and the sea of cloth occasionally parted with wooden signs showing inns, taverns, and merchant stalls.

Underneath the banners people milled in growing crowds. Merchants shouted their prices and wares, and townspeople went like streams through the streets and the buildings. There were even a few people pausing to hail their group. Chrom had enough strength to lift his hand and wave back to them.

As more people saw them, the crowds parted and gave their group space to move.

 _'How do they know him so well?'_ Robin wondered, forcing one foot in front of the next. The streets had gone from flat to winding up a hill, with a palace perched at the top. Towers reached like spears into the clouds, beautiful enough to urge Robin onward and closer.

It was the trek up the hill that fully did her in. She didn't have space to think or wonder anymore at the castle they moved into. It all blurred together, and she didn't even have time to wonder where she was before her head hit a pillow.

-o-o-o-

The afternoon found Robin finally back on her feet, and blinking away sleep. She stood in a hallway, trying to chase the last bits of drowsiness out of her head.

 _'Wake up. They wouldn't drag you out of a guest bed if this wasn't important.'_ She told herself. With her eyes clearer and her brain getting back up to speed, she noticed how ornate the passage was. The hall was lined with paintings, sculpture, and what she was pretty sure was gilding of some sort on the arches overhead.

Nearby, Lissa stood next to a set of large double doors and waved when she caught sight of Robin.

"Good to see that you're back on your feet, Robin. Now we just need to wait for Chrom to finish up-" she cut off and made a tsking noise when Robin picked at the bindings on her hand. "HEY! No messing around with the handiwork! I put a lot of effort into making sure it was bandaged and prepped just right, too."

"...Sorry." Robin ducked her head, still feeling her fingers twitch under the bandages. "It just itches a lot and..."

And her hand needed to breath and feel some fresh air on it. Her fingers were clumsy, with all those layers wrapped around her skin.

"Well, you can grin and bear it. Chrom has to wait just the same as you. So you'll just have to wait to take them off until his are-"

As if summoned by her words, Chrom entered in a side passage. He didn't notice how Robin and Lissa's eyes were drawn to him. Or that they saw him messing with his own bandages, carefully peeling them off.

Robin didn't even wait for Lissa's squeal of outrage to register. She was already taking her own off, and sighed in relief when her skin breathed again.

"You two are the WORST patients ever." Lissa grumbled out. "Don't come crying to me if you need more healing."

"I think we'll manage." Chrom shrugged off the dark look Lissa gave him. "Besides, you don't give yourself enough credit with how fast your remedies work."

"Yeah, well... you're going to have to live with those scars. MAYBE I could've healed those up too if you'd just follow directions."

Looking over Chrom, Robin saw what Lissa meant. The teardrop pattern showed up clean along his shoulder without a hint of blood or scabbing, interrupted only by a pink slash of skin healing up. The scar ran in a diagonal cut, breaking up the entire mark on his skin.

"I'll count myself lucky I get to keep my arm. How about you, Robin?" She glanced down at her own hand, half afraid it wouldn't be in the same state. But Lissa had done her work well.

Her fingers didn't have a trace of burn damage, though the inside of her palm felt raw and had an angry pink and red glare to the skin. Robin turned her hand to look at the back of it. One line of scar tissue ran across her own mark. Six eyes still looked back up at her, with the center ones half blotted out by fragments of pale skin. But much like Chrom she could still pick out most of the shape.

She gave her fingers and experimental flex, wincing.

"I'll try and follow the rest of the doctor's orders. No swinging swords, and taking it easy with holding anything. If we have to fight anything else, I'll just have to stick to spells."

"Well, if you're going to listen to one bit of advice, at least you picked the important bit..." Lissa trailed off, considering something. "Speaking of fights, Chrom? DO we know what we're going to do about what all happened?"

"...Sadly not yet. The most we got out of that first meeting was me talking about what happened and what all I could remember. At least everyone in the council chamber figured out this isn't a jape."

"You're really sure they get the picture that this isn't good news?"

Chrom's answer was to open the main door up just a finger's width. A tumult of voices drifted through the gap, all of them heavy with sounds of concern.

"I'd say so... speaking of which, Robin? The Exalt is ready for you to speak too- don't go all pale in the face. She just wants to hear the story from you as well." Robin couldn't find her voice to argue, and Chrom had already opened the door all the way and motioned for her to step inside.

-o-o-o-

The inside of the audience hall shone in rippling tints of blue and gold, light streaming through tall windows held up by almost impossibly thin columns to maximize the brightness. With a few days on the road, the audience hall had regained its full splendor. Walking back into it still stalled Chrom's breath.

It did better than that for Robin, with how her steps faltered.

"It's like being in the sky-" she whispered out.

"Hah, come to think of it, I suppose it is." Chrom admitted, glancing up at the windows. But he didn't let himself linger on the spectacle for long, brushing a hand against Robin's sleeve and guiding her forward. With the set of her shoulders Robin looked like she was about to march into battle. In a way, Chrom found the comparison apt.

She needed her courage; Chrom had stepped into the audience hall plenty of times, and all the attention shifted to them STILL made him go tense. His eyes swept over the nobles and advisors ringing the room. Some standing, some seated, some in alcoves and others in the main hall. All of them watched their group.

Ahead of them stood an elevated dais, with an expertly carved throne on top of it. The late afternoon sun set the gold enamel to glimmering, and picked out highlights on the teardrop symbol carved above the headrest.

Robin's eyes narrowed, darting between the symbol and Chrom's own mark. Finally they settled on a woman seated below the carving. Her long golden hair was swept back, to show her own undamaged mark on her forehead. Robin must have noticed the similarities, as her raised eyebrow echoed the woman's raised, white gloved hand. When she lifted it, the gesture stemmed the anxious muttering.

"And this is the tactician I've heard so much about? The one who can fight dragons and risk herself to protect people she has only just met? You've a talent for finding good people, Chrom."

Chrom sketched a quick bow to the seated figure, dipping his head to a pale haired woman in armor at the throne's right, and a man in green robes at the left, before nodding to Robin.

"The very one. Robin? These are the heads of the council for this situation. Phila, captain of the pegasus knights," he bowed his head again to the pale haired woman. The captain nodded. "And the Hierarch of Ylisse, head of the faith."

The man in green also dipped his head; he and Phila both had concern etched in their faces. It was enough to make up for the lack of concern on the seated figure; HER face remained carefully composed and with a deep seated calm.

"And, this is the Exalt, Emmeryn. Peace maker for the country, ruler... and currently wants to know whatever you can remember of yesterday's battles. The council wants every detail, including anything I overlooked in my initial report."

Robin gave a nod, and launched into a report of her own. Any nervousness drained out, as she put all her focus on recalling details. She kept her eyes fixed on the symbol above Emmeryn's head, letting it help ease her words out. Because of it, she missed the troubled looks and barely masked glares the audience gave her. The bulk of the harsh looks seemed focused on her robes. The cloth made her a dark spot in the otherwise bright and gilded hall.

 _'Ridiculous. What does it matter if she isn't wearing silk?'_ Chrom wanted to ask, but forced his mouth to stay shut. Robin had worked most of the stammers out of her voice, and he didn't want to bring them back with an ill timed comment.

The Hierarch had a particularly pinched expression when Robin spoke about the dragon, his gaze distant and trying to picture the beast.

"White, like Naga's brood?" He whispered. Chrom found himself nodding along with Robin, and the Hierarch went pale the more he heard. He looked ready to question Robin and Chrom on everything down to how many scales were on the beast, when Phila interrupted.

"A malevolent dragon is noteworthy, but not completely unknown to us. This new threat however, is." The Hierarch sighed out at that, but slowly dipped his head to acknowledge the fact.

Robin glossed over the nose bashing incident when she talked about the night attack. Chrom tried not to let his relieved sigh be _too_ obvious... but then, he still wasn't the focus of the council.

Emmeryn's gaze stayed gentle all the way through, coaxing out every detail. The same serenity couldn't be said for the nobles. Chrom picked out a rising tide of whispers around them, growing once Robin finished her report.

"Trust her-?" Asked one voice.

"Plegian?" Said another. Robin's eyebrows knitted together over the last, clearly trying to place the term.

The Hierarch's eyes clouded with worry, peering at Robin from behind the glasses perched on his nose. His gaze lingered on the symbols sewn into her sleeves. It was like she was one more omen on top of everything else.

 _'I've had enough of their paranoia.'_ He couldn't speak up against them, but he could at least give Robin some support. Chrom rested a hand on her shoulder, clearing his throat.

"Emm- I mean, Exalt Emmeryn. You've heard how bravely she fought. Because of her conduct, I intend to make her a Shepherd." He let the pronouncement hang in the air and felt the pause it knocked into the audience hall. "She's fought for Ylisse twice now, and bled for the Halidom. Plus, we need a tactician in our ranks."

Phila simply watched Robin with a thoughtful look. The Hierarch, however, looked ill at ease and cleared his throat.

"Your grace, I must exercise caution with this. We know nothing-"

"Hierarch. I value your view, and the caution of my nobles... but I also put weight in Chrom's judgment. If Robin has his faith and good will, I'll extend mine to her as well. She has the blessing of the crown." Emmeryn's voice echoed through the chamber with finality, silencing the last of the muttering. "And at the moment, we should focus on the more pressing threat. Between Chrom's report and Phila's riders, it's clear we have a new danger in our borders."

Chrom gladly took that as a dismissal, and he turned around and guided Robin back out the doors. Just then, the hall felt like it had lost a bit of its luster, and he was eager to spend time somewhere else.

-o-o-o-

The doors thudded shut behind them, closing off the last voices. Robin breathed a little more easily with that barrier between her and a dozen unknown, scrutinizing eyes.

"Sorry if you wanted to stay; I can only handle court in short doses, and if I remember right Lissa wanted to show you somewhere." The door clicked shut and Chrom picked up his pace, like he couldn't get away fast enough.

"I... I can't say that I mind. But that's who you fight for?" Robin said and followed him, Lissa darting ahead of both of them. "I can see why. She seems like a good ruler."

"Sometimes she's all that keeps the peace. And she's sorely needed right now, as the times get darker." Chrom answered.

"Not a bad sister, either. Definitely more regal than a certain brother I could mention." Lissa added in. Robin nodded along to everything, until she registered Lissa's words.

"W-wait. Sister? Then that would make you-?" Robin's cheeks burned and her eyes stretched to dinner plate size. Lissa flashed a grin that looked just a little cheeky. Chrom didn't quite meet her eyes, but still tried to smile.

For her part, the best Robin could do was sputter.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't realize- please, forgive my manners-"

"Robin. Don't stress yourself over it." Chrom went quiet, like he was half ashamed of being found out.

"Maybe we're royal blood, but it's not too different from being noble, is it?" When she didn't answer, he added on, "I mean it. I don't want you to start saying 'milord' every other word. Besides, I'm not interested in being much other than a commander."

"I TOLD you she was more regal." Lissa said.

"Hey, I know what I'm good at! I'm a fighter; let Emm stick to being the good ruler and have me swing Falchion around." His hand drifted down to the blade and scabbard at his side. The sword didn't look any worse for wear from being dipped in flames.

Chrom's fingers traced over the hilt, before stiffening in pain and drifting towards his shoulder. Robin started to ask if he was alright, when Lissa dashed on ahead to a new set of doors.

"TA-DAH! Well Robin, you've fought for the Shepherds; what do you say to meeting some of them?" She took Robin by the elbow and guided her inside. Distantly Robin noticed Chrom fall back, leaving her to face the inside alone.

Thankfully, it was a lot less daunting than the royal audience chamber. She found herself looking in on a collection of weapons and armor carefully arranged on either end of warm brick walls. Banners that could have proudly graced a battlefield hung down, while people moved around underneath them, stacking weapons and supplies. Robin picked out Sully checking her spear, along with Virion seated at a table and examining the fletching on his arrows. The air was thick with conversation and while the words were more loud they also held a happier, less apprehensive note.

"Lissa, dear!" One voice rose above the others, once Robin and Lissa stepped inside. A young woman in pink darted out of the ranks, sweeping carefully curled and styled hair back as she clapped both hands around Lissa's shoulders.

"Hey, Maribelle." Lissa answered, looking none too concerned over the sudden breach in personal space.

"Don't you 'hey' me! You've no idea how worried I've been! I wouldn't be surprised to find several gray hairs. All this news about you fighting... please tell me it's an exaggeration?"

"Sorry; you'd be even angrier if I lied, last time I checked." Lissa answered.

"Yeah, Ruffles and I can vouch for the undead skirmish." Sully added in. "Hell of a thing to ride in on when you're expecting a routine patrol. Wouldn't have missed it, though."

"Eh, some people have all the luck." A new voice cut in. Looking around, Robin picked out a blond haired man tossing an axe end over end while he spoke.

"...I am confused as to how 'luck' coincides with walking dead and berserk dragons." Said a woman with red hair and robes behind him. The spell book she carried told Robin that the Shepherds had a few mages in their ranks, too. She was accompanied by an olive haired man in armor, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Yeah... Miriel has a point, Vaike. Bandits are bad enough; now we've got to worry about those things wandering around at night, AND berserk dragons? Brr, sounds more than a little dark to me."

"Absolutely more than a little." Maribelle said and stepped away from Lissa. Robin wondered over the downcast look that spread through her eyes. An unmistakable tension soaked into the air, and Robin picked out a few others shifting uneasily; a brunette haired woman chewed her lip and clasped her hands together, while Miriel pinched at the bridge of her nose. All of them looked worried, once they were reminded of the news.

All except for Vaike, who made a rude noise in the back of his throat.

"Y'all are missing your backbones. The Vaike LIVES for this kinda thing; always wanted to see how I'd match up against a dragon. And then Chrom gets first dibs on beating one? I'm never gonna hear the end of it."

"As always, your reverence for divine protectors is astounding." A touch of ice crept into Maribelle's voice. "I swear you are just as pugnacious as Sully-"

"DON'T lump me in with him. I've got a brain between my ears." Sully said, over Vaike's affronted "Heeey!"

Meanwhile the archer, Virion, stepped over to Maribelle. "Worry not, dear lady. I assure you that righting the wrongs of this world is my chief responsibility... along with being a dashing hero for fair maidens such as yourself!"

Maribelle simply shot him a sideways, almost glare. But most of her ire was snuffed out, thanks to the conversation getting steered into something else.

"So, what do you think?" Lissa spoke at Robin's ear. "Think you'll fit in?"

"I..." Robin paused, looking over them all again in wonder. "...I sure hope so."

"By the way Lissa, where's Chrom?" The brunette woman spoke up, turning from where Vaike fumed and Sully gave him a smug look. Lissa's response was a bewildered blink, and looking over her shoulder.

"He was right- ugh, that's so like him. He's probably nursing that arm again. I TOLD him not to take off the bandages! Don't- don't look so panicked, Sumia. He and Robin were just a little too headstrong, reckless and-"

"What. Not brave?" Robin found herself speaking, and felt a smile growing on her lips. Just like that the mood lightened, and any worries over dragons and the dead were back to being outside of the walls.

-o-o-o-

Afternoon slipped into evening, and Robin found herself back in the guest room. A few candles illuminated the chamber, giving her light to see while she took stock of her supplies. The bag she'd been carrying tugged at Robin's curiosity, and she had every intention of satisfying it now.

One at a time the contents of the pack were laid on the table. A simple package of rations to eat while traveling, basic bandages, a small map... all things it would make sense for a wanderer to have.

 _'Maybe all I ever was, was a drifter.'_ She looked down at her boots, noticing that they were well worn and easily fit her feet. She warmed to the idea a little, pondering the notion of life on an open road.

 _'Shame I can't remember any of the sights I've seen.'_ Even the names on the map didn't strike anything familiar to her. An itch settled between her eyes when they looked at 'Plegia,' but nothing more. A grimace tried to settle on her face, but didn't last when Robin closed her fingers on something else in the bag.

The small, wood-carved markers she drew out next made Robin smile; those she could guess the purpose of, and she laid them and a second map out on the table. Basic pieces for strategy. Though she still had no notion on where she'd learned tactics, at least it filled a spot in her head that might have been blank otherwise. That and swordplay was something she had to define herself by.

One last thing lay in the bottom of the sack, and Robin stretched her arm all the way down to retrieve it. The object formed a heavy, rectangular weight in her hand. She drew the item back up and it gave a familiar rustle and sigh of paper when it half opened.

Robin looked down at the cover of the book. Her fingers ran over thick leather, and traced metallic bindings along the spine and book corners. She traced over the gold symbol laid into the center; something that resembled a lightning bolt, striking like a spear across the cover. Her eyes flickered over the runes, her mind pouncing on the translation after a moment.

"Thoron?" She paused. The name almost crackled with power. Robin only had to glance over at her own nearby thunder tome to know there were leagues of difference between the two books. The glance also said that she didn't have the capability to harness a spell like that, yet.

 _'So why did I have it with me? Was it my goal to be that good at spells?'_ Her mind stayed stubbornly blank, offering no clue on if the idea was right or wrong.

Robin nudged the cover open to look at the first pages. She picked out runes that blurred together on one page, refusing to focus under her eyes. As she thought, far out of her league.

With a sigh Robin moved to close the book. She was ready to write it off as another mystery she couldn't solve yet... but paused before she shut the cover. The first page was blank, save for an ink drawing of the spell symbol. Plus something written in the corner in plain and easy to read script.

 _'Robin,_

 _May this always protect you.'_

The six words etched themselves into her vision and filled her brain. Robin stared at the letters, silently begging them to just give her a hint more of what they meant. She looked at her name, focused on the handwriting, trying to get _something_ to jolt loose in her memory-

Nothing. Her throat tightened around a frustrated scream. Robin slammed the book shut.

That was when she got a reminder that her hand was still healing from the burn it took.

Then she DID scream. Her palm jabbed and shuddered from a snap of pain. Robin sunk to the floor, trying to close her teeth around the noise. She could have hit herself for losing her temper like that.

 _'Of all the stupid, rash, bone headed-'_ The door flung open before Robin could finish that thought. The wood crashed against the wall with a heavy thud, and someone spoke over the noise.

"Robin!? ROBIN! Are you-" Chrom knelt in front of her before she could blink. Questions on how he heard her or reached her so fast vanished when Robin saw the concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine. I just... I lost my temper. Smacked my hand when I shouldn't have done anything." Despite her words, Chrom's eyes scanned the interior. He looked tense, like he was still expecting an attack. Finally they rested on the book, and the still room convinced him there wasn't any immediate danger.

"Can I see your hand?" Chrom turned back to her, his voice still tight with worry. "I'm no healer, but..."

"No burning vulneraries on this. It's almost done hurting, anyway." Robin lifted her hand to prove it; the skin had gone bright red from the impact, but little else.

"And you didn't reopen anything. Good." Chrom sighed out in relief, examining the palm. His hands stayed frozen, hanging between him and Robin like he wanted to take her hand and give it a closer look.

 _'Oh no, we're not going to retread that awkwardness from the campfire.'_ Robin pulled her own hand away and hid it in the sleeves of her robe.

"Um... Chrom." She spoke up before any awkward situation could take root. Instead she jumped for the first thought that came to her mind. Memories of the council whispered back into her head and put a weight in her stomach. If nothing else it chased any blush out of her face. "Aren't you worried about bringing someone like me into the Shepherds?"

The confused blink he gave her forced Robin to continue.

"I don't know anything about myself... and believe me, I'm trying to remember." The book teased at the corner of her vision. "I don't know WHY I know how to swing a sword, or cast spells."

"Well, right now it's enough, isn't it?" Chrom looked at her with such a frank, open expression that her worries faded out for a moment.

"Sometimes I think using a sword is all I have going for me, but then I remember it's about what I do with it. I protect people. And you've shown that you're good at that. So to me at least, what's important is what you DO with those skills. Not how or why you have them..."

She wondered over how his eyes trailed down to Falchion, and the dark look that passed over his face. Like carrying the blade had more weight to it than just steel and scabbard. But the dark look didn't last long. Chrom glanced back up at her with an amused light flickering in his eyes.

"Plus, you know thunder spells. That gives you a leg up on me?" He laughed a little, and to Robin's surprise her own lips lifted up in return.

"Well, only if I ever get back to using a sword. Lissa's right; I can't take any chances swinging a blade around when my hand is this tender. But... thank you, Chrom."

"Hah, you're welcome. Glad my bluntness works sometimes. But I meant what I said. You're an important part of the Shepherds now." He eased himself back up and held a hand out to help her to her feet.

"And I'm glad of it, too. It's... It's good to have a purpose, instead of being aimless." As she took his hand, Robin wondered over the prince for a moment, and how... stable he was, for lack of a better word. A simple thing in the face of a complicated mess.

Still. He had barged in on her, and she arched an eyebrow over that.

"...Pardon me for asking, but is it normal for you to lurk around doorways?" Her question was rewarded with him snapping his head back and forth.

"No, no! Nothing like that! Actually, I was looking for you. Emm's reached a conclusion on what to do next, and wants you present. We've got a new mission lined up. But first, she and the Hierarch agreed a ceremony should take place."

Chrom stared down at his hands, shaking his head.

"A dragon died barely a day ago. People are getting restless over the knowledge, and Emm thinks an observance would help put them at ease. The Hierarch recalled a ceremony, which should be simple enough for us to partake in."

Robin tilted her head to the side, wondering.

"What exactly is this ceremony?"

"A water cleansing. I had one of those the first time I took up Falchion. It'll likely involve getting doused in water to wash away sins, followed by a ritual bath."

"Ah, thank gods-" she found herself exclaiming. "S-sorry. I'm just thinking I could use one of those. Any chance the water will be hot?"

"I'll try to pull some strings, and see what we can arrange."

-o-o-o-

Chrom rolled his head back and sighed, floating in the pool. Gods, but he'd needed this just as badly as Robin did. The steam soaked into his skin, releasing all his tense muscles one by one. The only thing it didn't solve was the low ache in his shoulder, but even that was reduced to a low background hum.

It had been worth standing through a long, droning ceremony with the others. He'd listened to the Hierarch beseeching Naga to extend her grace back to the protectors of the Halidom, to forgive them for a necessary cruelty.

 _'Gods be willing we won't have to face anymore of those.'_ He thought, stretching his arm out and resting it against the lip of the pool. His hair was drying out from where a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him; something to wash away the stain before he was allowed to soak and fully cleanse himself. Frederick had stood up against that with barely a complaint, and Chrom hoped he'd stilled the gasp when the cold shocked him. He _was_ pretty sure that he'd heard at least one yelp from the women's portion, which sounded like it could've belonged to Lissa.

In a few more hours he'd make preparations to go to Ferox. He couldn't blame Emm for the decision; they needed allies, and strong ones, with what they were facing.

 _'Risen.'_ He tested the name out. There'd been a handful of other sightings filtering in from the kingdom, courtesy of wide eyed messengers tearing their way into the palace. Emm had listened to them all with concern and patience, before assuring them that reinforcements would come to protect their farms. She'd also offered them a place to sleep in the meantime from a hard journey.

 _'Just as well we're all leaving to free up a few more bedrooms, at the rate they're coming in.'_ With a sigh Chrom lifted his head back up. Frederick was gone by now, not willing to linger once the ceremony was done and he'd been pronounced pure and ready to carry out Naga's will. Chrom himself would need to leave the chamber and do the same, soon.

With a slosh of water he stood up and groped for a towel. With everything taken care of, he was reminded of how little sleep he'd gotten the previous night.

 _'Check the preparations, dine with the troops, and then sleep- Gods!'_ A jab of pain buried itself in his shoulder and sent Chrom stumbling. His vision swam as he rested a hand on the injury. The pain subsided back into a dull throb, and Chrom forced himself forward.

That hadn't been the first time he'd dealt with a sudden twinge of pain, and he wondered if it would be the last. Even the healing on this wound felt different from others. He scowled and picked his way through the steam, wondering if he should ask Lissa-

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!" A shriek yanked him out of his thoughts and his eyes up. In a voice that clearly didn't belong to Lissa. He'd taken the wrong passage out of the baths, judging by the steam still cloaking the air. There was someone else still in the other section of the baths, and she lurched out of the water with a splash.

"Oh-" he managed, and it clicked into place who he'd stumbled in on.

"Oh gods!" Was all Chrom managed before Robin gave another shriek. "I-I'm sorry! Gods!"

As far as ceremonies went, this didn't feel auspicious any longer. Chrom had just long enough to think that before charging for the exit of the baths with a soap dish following him on the way out.


	6. Northward

**Chapter 6: Northward**

"...I'm sorry?" Chrom tried again, the seventh time since the prior night's mishap.

He and Robin marched near the front of the line, giving him just enough privacy to try again. Behind them the line of the Shepherds stretched out. The fighters on foot took the lead, the cavalry moving around the supply wagons to keep them well guarded. They wouldn't need to exercise true formation until they were well onto the North Road pointing to Ferox, but a little caution felt warranted with everything that had happened.

Robin had suggested some modifications the convoy could try out, and he wanted to discuss them with her... if he could just stop blushing.

"I-I swear I didn't mean to look-"

"Chrom. Please stop." Robin groaned out. The lush morning was lost on her, with how her eyes scrunched closed and she rubbed at her face. "...I'm just trying to forget about the whole thing. It's mortifying enough."

"But I don't want you to feel embarrassed over-"

"I wasn't talking about just that... display." His other shoulder sported a new bruise under the pauldron, and Chrom caught Robin giving it a look. "I can't believe I reacted like that."

"You know, that was a very agile response? I don't think I've ever seen someone throw a wash basin that hard-"

"Not. Helping." Robin groaned out.

"Maybe... maybe you could say this balances out me crashing into your nose?" He tried a different approach, and was rewarded with her meeting him eye to eye. Her cheeks had gone pink, and he knew his face was a match.

"I guess... that'd be one way to look at it. Just _please_ don't tell anyone else about what happened?"

"Honor as a prince and a commander. It'll be a secret." He was rewarded by a chuckle from her, which he blinked over.

"Hah, pardon. Just a day with you, and I've managed to pick up my first secret. That has to be a record." Chrom grinned, and the blush shrank away from his cheeks.

"It took Vaike a full WEEK before he had anything that could match that-"

"Excuse me? Is The Vaike Sense tingling? I'm pretty sure it is." Chrom jerked his head away from her and saw Vaike increasing his pace and waving a hand.

"You need some expert opinions on how to fight? Ol' teach is ready and able if you are."

"A-actually, we were just talking about how we might improve our marching formation." Robin cut in.

"Then I suggest not asking HIM about tactics." Came a voice from somewhere above and behind them. Chrom turned and found himself giving Maribelle and her horse a polite nod of the head. So she'd decided to join them on the march after all. "Though I might be able to give you some insight, IF you pay attention better than him."

"I'll have you know I ALWAYS pay attention." Vaike shot back. "I just don't listen too close when it's boring."

"Impossible. You're fortunate I decided to come along with you after all, both to deal with dragons AND this lout." Maribelle sighed, and her horse gave a matching whicker.

The conversation continued easily as they marched. Robin rotated the Shepherds in and out to get advice from each of them. Chrom felt his shoulders relax once the conversation drifted to things other than baths. Sometimes he'd give an opinion if needed, or help break up an argument before it could start. Lissa, to his surprise helped manage some of the conversation. Mostly by keeping Maribelle company.

They'd gotten all the way up to Stahl, and Chrom was just wondering if he could coax Sumia out of the wagons and into some good shoes to keep her from tripping-

"Milord!" A glint of armor up ahead cut into their current conversation along with a shout. Frederick's mare all but sprang off the ground, galloping hard towards them.

"...That's not a good sign, is it?" Robin tensed up, her good hand going for the spell tome strapped to her belt.

"Riding that hard, no. Should I get the rest of the Shepherds ready?" Stahl asked. Chrom held a hand up, motioning for Stahl to wait and see what exactly Frederick's bad news was.

"Risen ahead! We need fighters at the ready!" Frederick's voice rang out and sent a stir down the line of Shepherds. "I count at least fourteen! Maybe more waiting in the woods." He reined up hard beside Chrom, sending his horse wheeling back around so he could be ready to fight.

"Chrom? I think I see them too..." Robin trailed off, her eyes narrowing. "Just there through the trees; apparently they can move about in broad daylight just fine."

Chrom followed her gaze, picking out shadowy forms moving along the road. Already they turned to face the Shepherds with weapons raised. A glare of light reflected off a river behind the Risen, forcing Chrom to squint.

"Frederick. How many did you see on our side of the river?" He murmured, trying to find a way to approach the attack.

"A vanguard. The bulk of the attack lays beyond it."

"Is there a bridge?" Robin paced forward, attempting to get a better view. "We need to move fast; punch through the enemy lines and hold the bridge to negate their numbers."

"...Permission to follow those commands, milord?" The caution was clear in Frederick's voice, but he also edged his horse forward. A drum of hooves told Chrom that Sully was riding up to join them.

"Y-yeah. I mean of course. It's a good plan. Take the bridge, and we'll mop up whatever is left in the charge."

-o-o-o-

Frederick was well rehearsed with this routine by now. Take a deep breath, test the weight and heft of the spear in his hand. Tighten his fingers around it, and in the same motion shove any left over unease into the back of his head.

The one part that stayed difficult was turning his back on Chrom and Lissa.

He spurred his horse forward, forming the spearhead of the cavalry charge with Sully and Stahl. Sully had her spear at the ready, mirroring him, while Stahl clung onto his sword with a desperate type of determination. A quick glance over them told Frederick they remembered their training.

 _'They'll be fine.'_ So would the rest of the Shepherds; he'd done what he could to prepare them for this. Kept the weapons in meticulous care, made certain no one would turn an ankle and have THAT slow them down.

He'd done everything. And he'd be strong enough for everyone.

That mantra kept the worst of his doubt from gnawing a hole in Frederick's thoughts, and chewing his focus to tatters. It also kept his ears open for other voices, over the churning of the horse's hooves.

He picked out Robin shouting out more instructions down the line.

"Chrom! Can you move with me? We're acting as escort for the ranged fighters." No time to wonder over what she planned on doing with them. The Risen were already in sight.

Dying, or killing his enemies didn't rattle him any longer. Frederick reflected on that while he punched through the first line of Risen. The horses slowed once the busy work of hacking and stabbing began. Black muck and mist clung in splatters to armor and spear, steaming in the afternoon light. The blades of the other Shepherds lashed out as well, and their enemy hissed and died.

Stahl gave a muffled curse, and his horse shrieked. Frederick caught a flash of blood, before Stahl lurched in the saddle and hacked at the arm of a Risen. The axe that bit into the cavalier's side fell to the ground, and Stahl kept riding with Frederick.

 _'Alive.'_ Frederick told himself, letting that spur him forward.

Ahead of them the Risen massed like a dark scab on the bridge, intent on holding the Shepherds away from it. Frederick grit his teeth. They were in for tough work, and Stahl had already taken on one wound.

Fire blazed over Frederick's head a breath before the cavalry locked into a skirmish. A bolt of lightning followed it and both spells slammed into the Risen. The corpses shuddered from the spells, softened up and vulnerable to the spears smashing into them.

"HE-LLO, that's a nice axe you've got! Mind if I take a closer look?" He heard Vaike shout from behind him. A wrenching noise followed as Vaike tore the axe loose from the Risen's fading grip. "YEAH, now that's more like it! Got your back Frederick; head on forward!"

They reached the bridge with another flurry of blows. At their backs, Robin called out the next command. "Can you fire over the heads of those on the bridge? Keep softening them up before they can get into spear or sword reach!"

A second salvo of arrows and spells arced up over the cavalry in response. Behind him, Frederick heard Vaike screaming a number of choice oaths and battle cries. His axe crashed through armor and dead flesh, and he wiped out the remaining Risen on their side of the bridge.

 _'Really will need to discuss conduct with him.'_ Frederick told himself before piercing the armor of an undead fighter.

"Might I direct your attention back to the front lines?" Virion's voice drifted over the rattle of steel. "You'll notice more than a few of the brutes felled by my bow, yet more remain... and sadly I'm running low on arrows. Might I convince you to pick up the slack?"

Frederick was about to say it would be taken care of. Before he found the words, Chrom discovered a gap in the line of horses and slipped through it. The young lord shot past the Risen, thinning their numbers with Falchion.

Frederick forgot all of his lectures about conduct as he snapped out a curse of his own. The Risen stayed thick around his horse and it was a fight to spur the mare past the main melee to where Chrom was running-

But the same clearly wasn't true for Robin. The tactician bolted past Frederick and threaded through the same gaps as Chrom, following his steps. The two moved with a desperate energy, intent on turning the battle.

"Get after them! We'll handle things from here!" Sully yelled out, bleeding from cuts of her own. She didn't let the wounds slow her down, giving back as good as she received. Her shout spurred Frederick forward. His horse lashed with her hooves and broke through the line, chasing after the two.

 _'What is he thinking!? Trying to prove something again?'_

In the back of his head, fear did its best to slip free as he watched Chrom fight. Good as he was with Falchion, his strokes were already growing slower, leaving Robin to try and cover for him. The air took on an electric taste from her spells.

Through dust and crackling lightning, Frederick saw what they were fighting towards. One last figure stood beyond the battle, stooped and clutching an axe. Baleful red eyes stared out at them from a ruined, half decayed face. Yet there was a certain power in the thing's presence.

So they'd managed to find the leader.

Chrom strode towards the Risen, bringing Falchion up as a guard. He parried the first axe swipe, and Falchion darted out to score a hit along the Risen's shoulder.

It was little more than a light cut. Not enough to slow the corpse down. They traded steps and slices, the blades crashing but never finding another mark in the flesh.

All through the clash, Frederick felt like he was riding through sand. He knew Chrom couldn't keep up the attacks; not with that mad dash taking the air out of his lungs. And Frederick couldn't reach him-

"Wrong move." Robin said. Her words signaled Chrom to throw himself to the side. A bolt of magic raced past him and embedded itself in the Risen's chest to slow it. The young lord's balance gave out, and he smacked into the ground. Robin darted towards Chrom, looking drained from the spell but still with enough energy to place herself between him and the Risen. How she planned to parry an axe with a spell book was beyond Frederick.

And just then they didn't have to find out. Frederick stretched his arm out, his spear finally finding its mark in the Risen's side and pinning it to the ground. Frederick kept his eyes fixed on the Risen as it thrashed and dissolved, making certain it was well and truly dead.

Behind them the last clashes of steel faded away. The tumult of battle was replaced by the rush of water, the last of the battle fading away just like that.

"That takes care of the Risen..." Frederick said. He was well aware that the tone of his voice added on 'and I'm not sure I approve of your actions.'

"The battle went well enough, with no casualties on our own side." That at least, he could be thankful for.

"Thank you, Frederick." Chrom tried to gather up what dignity he could from his spot in the dirt. "Let's hope that the rest of the trip to Ferox isn't this eventful..."

Chrom trailed off. A nervous whickering reached the group, and it wasn't from any of the Shepherd's horses. All three of them raised their heads to the sound. Frederick's eyes fell on a pale horse a few yards beyond the fallen Risen.

 _'Not a horse; a pegasus.'_ The great white wings growing from its back half dragged along the ground. The creature clearly injured. As Frederick watched, he realized Sumia was pushing her way past the group with more than a little stumbling in her haste to get to the injured beast.

"Frederick... an injured pegasus won't slow us down by too much, will it?" He heard Robin ask. Her eyes stayed fixed on Sumia, with a thoughtful look behind them. "I'm wondering if we might have stumbled onto some good luck. Ah, no pun intended."

-o-o-o-

Evening brought the Shepherds around a fire, and Robin seated herself at the edge of it. She folded her knees up and rested her head on them, content to listen. Food and mugs of drink from the supply wagons circulated and conversation drifted between what they could expect in Ferox, and the battle they'd just won in the afternoon.

She'd done something to help, Robin hoped. Sully and Stahl had both taken injuries, but at least no one was dead.

 _'Hopefully that's enough.'_ And it worked as aid for their cause; whatever else she didn't know, she already wanted these men and women to succeed.

"Hey, tactician! You're going to catch your death over there on the edge, c'mere!" Sully's voice cut into her thoughts, and an arm hauled her upright. Robin barely hung onto her plate as the cavalier dragged her closer to the fire.

"Found her!" Robin wondered at the slurred quality of Sully's words.

"There ya' are! We were waiting for ya. It ain't a celebration unless ALL the soldiers are here." She noticed that Vaike had a few patched wounds as well... and had also done his share of damage to the drink.

From his seat next to Lissa, Chrom gave her a wave. Sully took that as a sign to shove Robin towards him. With a stumble Robin found herself sitting down hard on the ground next to Chrom.

"Is this a normal thing?" She whispered to him over the shouts.

"When Vaike challenges Sully to a drinking contest, then yes. Don't worry," he added on when he saw her doubtful look. "We rationed the drink out ahead of time; they won't do much damage. And they deserve to celebrate a little."

Robin glanced around again, noting the relaxed air in the camp. The only one with a wary expression was Frederick, and even he sat close to the fire. He also just happened to keep one eye on the surrounding woods. He drew a cloth along the spear resting against him, making certain the edge was clean and ready for battle.

"Frederick the Wary, you called him?" She tested out the title. "Apt as that sounds... maybe you should just call him that. I might stick to Disciplined."

"Hah; well enough." Came a new voice in her ear, courtesy of Stahl standing over them. "I don't blame him for looking over that weapon so much. He trained most of us with that in hand."

"It... it was a gift, wasn't?" A new voice spoke up, and Robin picked out Sumia. She gave Robin a small wave to Robin, and a timid but gentle smile. "I heard him say it, once... just once, but that kind of thing sticks in your head. Or at least, my head."

Robin looked over the spear Frederick held with a new perspective. It certainly looked like a princely gift. The handle was sturdy and decorative, with a silver sheen to it and the blade at the end; well made, and well sharpened.

"A... gift?" She paused over the word, wondering for a moment. Something teased at the edge of her mind, and her fingers strayed towards her belt-

"STAHL!" Vaike shouted out. "C'mon, you can sing without killing our ears. Why not give it a go? Hell we'll join in on you with the chorus!" Apparently this was a normal thing as well, since with a little cajoling Stahl stood up.

He began a winding song that slowly turned into something more spirited, about royals from ages ago. Chrom and Lissa were both tapping their feet along to the rhythm, the look in their eyes showing that they'd heard it before.

As she listened, Robin's fingers drifted back down to her belt loops. They traced over the thunder tome at her side, before moving towards a second book. The contents of the pages teased at her memories, even though she didn't have the skill to understand or wield the tome yet. Robin pulled the book free of its bindings, hugging it to her chest before turning her attention back to the song.

The lyrics described a princess who married to a prince, but had to fly away on wings to some distant land to better protect her love and kingdom. "Until the skies set fire," the last verse described and the other Shepherds bellowed out. Some louder than others.

"'Tis a nice tale... a touch maudlin for my tastes, but still lovely. Ylisseans tend to love their songs about sacrifice for the greater good, I've found." Virion spoke off to her side. Robin blinked at him, wondering.

"You... aren't Ylissean?"

"Not by birth or heritage. She isn't my first home... though I fight well enough for the country. The same as you, perhaps?" Robin found her head dipping forward in a slow nod.

"Yeah... yeah I guess so." She looked around at the laughing faces again. "I guess I do fight for them, too."

-o-o-o-

Chrom smiled to himself, watching the last of the Shepherds settle down into conversation after the song. Lissa eased back against her resting spot, murmuring contently about having a proper meal for a change. Her healing duty was light this evening, thanks to splitting it with Maribelle. She sat at Lissa's other side, complete with a mobile cushion as they held a whispered conference. The two had worked speedy recoveries, partially because they worked as a duo and partially because of one other reason; there had been very little in the way of critical injuries.

He knew who he had to thank for the second part. Chrom looked over to see Robin speaking with Virion. After a moment, the archer excused himself when Sully walked by. Chrom gave a sympathetic wince for both Virion and the cavalier, watching them walk towards the tents before inching closer to Robin.

"That was good work today-" Chrom paused when he saw her head was bent over a book in her lap. Robin glanced up from it, blinking at him for a moment. From the ways her eyes were unfocused, the book was demanding material. He'd seen that look on Miriel often enough when she was pouring over tomes in arcane laced script.

"Sorry, hope I wasn't interrupting anything? I wanted to say thanks for watching my back- everyone's backs really, in the last fight."

"Glad to help out. And don't worry about interrupting. Campfire light isn't the best for reading, anyway." Her hands traced over the cover of the book; one that he'd seen her carrying around more than once. After a moment, the symbol on the cover clicked halfway into place.

"A thoron tome?" He tilted his head, wondering over the symbol. "You know, you could give it to Miriel to study. She's been interested in branching out from fire spells, and-"

"No!" Robin blurted out, holding the book close. A second later she ducked her head, looking shamefaced over the outburst. He was well aware that several eyes had turned from the campfire to look at them. "Ah, gods. Sorry Chrom, I didn't mean to blurt it out like that. I-I meant to say I'd like to keep it with me."

"Don't worry," he raised a hand to wave off the concern, showing the Shepherds all was well. Slowly, they returned to what they were doing. "I didn't know it was important to you-"

Then the rest of where he'd seen that symbol snapped in.

"Wait... isn't that the book from your study?" At her nod, he continued "If you don't mind me asking... why did you bring it with you?"

"I know we're trying to travel light," she started to say, only to pause once Chrom shook her head.

"Compared to what Maribelle packs, and all the books Sumia has brought along it's nothing. You aren't a burden with one thoron tome. I was just wondering if there was something important to it."

"You might say that," she murmured. Her hands rested on the cover, before parting it open so he could look at the first page. Chrom's jaw dropped open, his eyes darting between it and Robin.

"'May this always protect you?' And it's written to you!? Robin this-" he caught himself just before he raised his voice. "Robin, is this a link to your past?"

"Yes, but... I don't know what it means. I don't get anything when I look at it, aside from that sentence. I feel like I'm missing out on something..." she trailed off, staring at the note. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and her mouth twisted into a frown.

"All I know is I... I like having it with me. Whenever I look at it, I feel like there's something right on the edge of my thoughts. Something-"

Her words cut out with a halting breath. Her eyes shone in the firelight thanks to tears forming up in them. Robin drew a hand to her cheek as a few slid down, staring at her fingers in a way that showed she didn't know WHY she was crying.

"Robin-?"

"Th-that's strange. And new to me. I... why am I feeling this way, looking at a book?"

She blinked up, staring at the gloved hand on her shoulder. Chrom stared at his hand too, half wondering over how it had gotten there. But she didn't shy away from the contact, and managed to wipe her eyes clean.

"...I know, I know. I won't rush trying to remember." Her eyes lingered on his hand, and he thought he saw her fingers twitch, almost drifting up to touch his. But instead, she pushed the book into his chest. "I think I've looked at it enough for now. Can... I ask if it could go into the convoy? I'd like it if it could be saved for me, but-"

"I'll ask Frederick to make a special note of it." He promised. "Whenever you're ready to look at it again, it will be waiting for you."

Just for a moment her fingers did brush over his, passing the book over to him. Robin gave him a grateful smile once he grasped the book and carefully tucked it next to him. Chrom found himself thinking that the smile suited her well. That, and that he liked seeing it on her face.

 _'Focus!'_ His brain shouted at him. _'She's a tactician; just work on making sure she feels accepted, and maybe you'll see her smile more often.'_

"B-by the way! If you want more books, maybe Sumia could help you out with having something to read. I-if you want to that, is." He rushed to add.

"I... could do that, I guess?" Robin said. That was when they both winced at a crash from somewhere behind the tents. "Actually, that sounds a lot like her. I'll go see if she's alright."

She stood up, nodding to him with a grateful look still on her face.

"Thanks, Chrom."

Definitely. He DEFINETLY liked that smile the most, out of all the expressions he'd seen on her.


	7. Warrior's Realm

**Chapter 7: Warrior's Realm**

 _'One last throw of the dice...'_

Robin woke up with a shiver, and the feeling wasn't limited to just the chill burrowing between the blankets. The words echoed in her head along with a fading dream.

"... Throw of the what?" Robin murmured, opening her eyes and staring up at a tent canvas ceiling. Moonlight shimmered through the cloth while a soft night breeze sighed through the spaces in the canvas. The wind took on a colder bite, the further they moved north. Robin threw her coat over her shoulders, shutting out some of the chill and rolling out of her cot.

What she'd been dreaming about, she couldn't remember. But it left her with a quickened pulse, and a gut feeling that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep immediately.

Just a quick breath of fresh air, Robin promised herself. That would be enough to settle her thoughts and push some calm back in place. Once she had that to clear her head, odds were the bone deep aches in her body would plunge her straight back into sleep. She'd picked up some extra ones today, thanks to some of the Shepherds. Robin shut her eyes, thinking back to Sully staring down at her.

 _"Pfah. You can swing a sword but you're scared of riding a horse?"_ Sully had shook her head when Robin stammered out she didn't know how to ride. _"Come on, anyone can sit in a saddle. From there it's just a step up to holding the reins. Besides, you're our tactician aren't ya? Might as well learn how to ride a horse. Hellfires, we've got time!"_

Sully hadn't been wrong about that, at least. Even Sumia was able to give her pointers on how to ride. For all that she tripped over her own feet, Sumia had a certain grace when she climbed into a saddle. Robin smiled a little at the memory.

 _"Don't fret about it too much. Hey! Maybe you can keep your mind off it by telling me what you thought about Wyvern Wars?"_ Between Sumia's coaxing and Sully refusing to take no for an answer, they'd gotten Robin into the saddle. They'd also kept her there for most of the day's march, as the soreness in her back and legs attested to.

 _'I'll get used to this yet.'_ Even if she had plenty of aching muscles now.

Outside the moon hung low in the sky. It placed a soft silver glow on the tents, and picked out a shimmer on-

 _'Armor?'_ Robin blinked, and looked again. Frederick stood in profile at the border of the camp, eyes trained outwards... yet they didn't appear to be focusing on anything. There was a distant quality in his gaze, and his mouth twisted into a frown. If Robin was to describe the look on his face, 'haunted' would be it. Why he was like that, she didn't know. She took a deep breath, preparing to call out to him.

"Frederick? What are you doing up?" A different voice drifted through the camp and Robin's mouth snapped shut. She drew back, looking for the owner. Her eyes fell on Sumia, a thick wool cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Sumia shivered even with all the wrapping around her, stepped out of the tent shadows-

And just like clockwork, Sumia's feet caught on the cloak's hem and sent her stumbling forward. Frederick darted in, surprisingly fast for someone in armor, and caught her by the shoulders before standing her back up.

"I could ask you the same, milady."

"Well, I was worried about the pegasus we found. I know it's been a few days, but I still wondered if there were any hurts I missed. Anyway, I went to make sure she's healing up alright." Sumia favored him with a quick, pleased smile. "I'm glad to say she's doing fine."

"Ah." Frederick gave a nod. Sumia kept her eyes on him, waiting for him to supply an answer. "I suppose you could say the same for me. Concern has been keeping me up."

But he didn't rush to clarify what that concern was, exactly. Sumia shifted from foot to foot in the drawn out silence.

"Frederick, I... um, pardon me for being forward, but it seems like you haven't been sleeping a lot lately. Can't you relax a little-?"

"Milady, think for a moment. The foes we face are powerful, more so than any common brigands. They are relentless, feeling neither pain nor fear." Frederick answered, gazing back at the tents. His eyes stopped before they ever fell on Robin, turning back to Sumia.

"I would like to say I have confidence in the Shepherds, and against bandits I do. However..." Frederick trailed off, his shoulders tensing up. For an instant it looked like he had much more than just armor weighing him down. "These Risen are a different case. Concern makes it hard for me to sleep when I think of what we may face next. And now our hopes to reach Ferox are riding on Chrom and the tactician he brought in-"

"You don't trust her? But, she's kind and likes to read, and-" Robin felt her cheeks go warm against the night chill.

"I express wariness, because I must. I don't ask everyone else to do so... and I would sooner be proven wrong. But experience makes me uneasy around those with signs of Plegian origins. That hasn't changed, regardless of how many refugees have filtered in from that country."

 _'Plegia.'_ There was the word again. It should have meant SOMETHING to her, Robin knew. It obviously meant something significant to Frederick. She glanced down at her robes, lifting her arms to pick out the purple threads and the three eyed pattern they formed on each sleeve. Those eyes looked like they could pierce everything... and yet give up nothing.

"Frederick, I wish I could tell you not worry, and you'd listen. We'll ALL be fine; Robin's promised that no one will die on her watch-" Frederick gave a low sigh to that.

"Sumia- Milady. There's no need to concern yourself over it. I will be well." Frederick didn't meet her in the eye. "I'd much rather you focus on your own training."

He shut his eyes tight, putting on a strained smile. Even at the distance Robin was at, she could see how forced it was. "If you do that, it will be one less thing to be concerned with. You can also start with getting some rest; we'll be at the border to Ferox in another day. We should do what we can to be fresh and ready for it."

"But-" Sumia started, only to trail off. "...Alright. IF you agree to get some sleep, too. You'll need your rest if you're going to do all those errands around camp again."

Frederick mumbled and agreement, and that signaled the end to the conversation. Robin found herself moving back into her own tent, with more than a few words resting on her mind.

-o-o-o-

"F... fuhreezing! It's freezing out here!" Lissa sputtered the words out, and Robin shivered in answer. A cold wind kicked up around them for good measure, acting as their welcome into Ferox. Snowflakes blew in on the breeze and left the air flecked with white. Robin drew her own hands into the sleeves of her robe after pulling her hood up over her face, trying to shield all the skin she could from the wind. In the back of her mind, it occurred to Robin that this felt new to her.

 _'At least I've learned something about myself.'_ And that her scar didn't like the cold, either. Her fingers gave a twitch, and she wondered at the shudder moving across Chrom's shoulders.

"Cold getting to you too?" Lissa called out from where she was hiding behind Frederick's horse. Robin gave a small nod, looking out under the hood to where Chrom moved up ahead. Unlike Lissa and Robin, Chrom moved forward with a purpose. His eyes stayed fixed on something peeking up from over the trees, a patch of lighter gray against a dark, steel covered sky.

"Come on, we're almost there!" He quickened his pace, charging through a powder clogged path. Above, the trees stirred and sighed from the cold wind, dropping a little more white down on their heads. Robin tried to trudge through the snow and catch up to Chrom. It was an uphill effort that made her breath come out in foggy clouds, and her feet slip in the snow as she pushed. But with effort she got closer to the front of the line, and as they climbed the last hill the forest fell away. The branches shrank back overhead and gave Robin a glimpse of a wall.

Or something that resembled a wall. It looked like someone had taken a castle wall, stretched it out as far as the eye could see from east to west, and dropped a few buildings on the top and gates on the bottom for good measure.

"That's the Long Fort! Finally made it to Ferox!" Stahl called out. Vaike, walking a little behind them just gave a low "hhhhfff" in agreement. The sight put a little more speed into Robin's face, and she followed Chrom closer to the dividing wall. A gate yawned ahead of them, easily wide enough for the Shepherds and their wagons to pass through.

At least, that would be the case if the portcullis hadn't been drawn over the gate. Robin craned her neck up, wondering if they hadn't been spotted yet and that was why the passage was locked down. That idea was quashed when her eyes picked out figures patrolling the wall. Quite a LOT of figures, all of them in armor and with weapons clasped in mailed and gauntleted hands-

 _'How can I pick that out at this distance?'_ She wondered, stopping up sharp in the snow. Chrom managed a few more paces, murmuring under his breath.

"...That doesn't look welcoming." He raised his voice. "Warriors of Ferox! We've come-"

He didn't get far through his speech when a blonde haired woman came to the top of the ramparts. Her armor was thick and heavy, without a hint of ornamentation. But they way she wore it, carried herself, and how her troops parted around her said this was a general.

"Don't bother, brigand. We've no need to have you speak about peace. Not before you wander across our borders to pillage our people." Chrom stopped at that, halting one leap ahead of Robin. He slowly raised his head in confusion and winced as the wind kicked up again, narrowing his eyes at the general.

"Brigands? That's folly; we're an envoy from Ylisse-" Not the best of word choice, Robin thought. It did nothing to dislodge the hard look in the general's face.

"General, do you think-" one Feroxi fighter started to say, only for her to cut him off.

"As I recall, this is the third 'diplomatic' party we've seen this moon. I have little patience for further talk. If you want to settle it, prove your words the Feroxi way." Her voice came out clipped, while she gave a curt signal with her hand. The hesitation vanished from her fighters as a rank came forward, drawing their weapons. Behind Robin was a thunder of hoof beats. Frederick shouted something, trying to race towards them. His horse snorted and tried to wade through the thick snow, and with a lurch Robin knew neither she or Frederick could reach Chrom in time.

Ahead, archers approached the walls, drawing their bowstrings back. All of them aimed at Chrom. Robin tried to shout out something-

Only for her words to be swept away by a rush of wings. She started, before her eyes focused on a white horse racing towards Chrom. A heartbeat later she heard screams.

-o-o-o-

A yell rushed out between his teeth, and snapped Chrom's awareness back into place. Pain and a hard jolt wrenched along his arm, and his shoulder burned.

"Captain?" A voice said near his ear. Over the pain in his shoulder Chrom felt pressure on his arm and wrapped around his side. Slowly, he realized that someone held onto him. Snow bit at his face instead of arrows-

 _'Arrows.'_ His memory caught up to him. There'd been arrows and javelins both cutting towards him, but he didn't feel like a pincushion.

"Captain are you alright?" His eyes focused on the blurry figure hanging onto him. Sumia's features snapped into place, and behind her white wings beat at the air around them. The sight was offset by a few flecks of blood flying against a steel grey sky. Sumia herself didn't look hurt, the pegasus was flying too fast and sure to be injured. He glanced over to his shoulder, and saw that a thin red line had reopened along the scar.

 _'Maybe Lissa had a point about those bandages after all.'_ From how Sumia sucked in her breath, she'd noticed the open wound too.

"O-oh gods! Captain, I-"

"I- I'm alright." He panted out. "Just jostled my..."

Chrom looked down, and his words faded out. The ground was impossibly far away, littered with broken weapons that had missed their mark. The wind rushed in his ears and nipped at the hot blood spilling from his shoulder, snow clouding his vision of the ground. The path and Long Fort fell further and further away. His heart hammered at the sight, but any fear or worry was left on the ground.

"Are you sure you're okay? Got a head for heights?" Sumia's voice pierced through the thunder his pulse had turned into.

"Yeah..." Chrom managed, still staring down. His vision caught on the blonde figure in armor. She'd shifted her position, but still stood close to the edge of the wall. "Can you turn and take me in closer, before the archers have a chance to redraw?"

Sumia's answer was to let go of him and give the reins a light tug. The pegasus yawed to the side and the world shifted underneath them. The wall turned into a band of gray cutting across white as they gained speed. Chrom found himself shifting so he half hung on the back of the saddle, tensed and ready to leap off.

"You're doing great," he told Sumia and squinted against the snow blowing into his face. "Just take us in a little closer..."

The pegasus dropped in altitude, skimming along the ramparts and flying just above the upturned heads of the Feroxi. Their faces blurred by, too fast for them to bring their weapons into play. The general loomed up ahead and Chrom locked his eyes on her. He gave himself one breath to focus as they closed the gap, fingers making the leather of the saddle creak.

Chrom let go, dropping like a stone. His fall was interrupted with his feet slamming into the commander. The rest of him curled in from the hit, and the impact launched them both over the edge of the ramparts. The soldiers yelled, and the wall stones disappeared. In their place was open air.

They hung there for just one heartbeat, before gravity took over.

The thick snow on the ground broke their fall, just barely. Breath rattled out of Chrom's lungs, mirrored by the general's armor clattering from the crash. Chrom rolled free of the tangle, finding his shaky feet. The general was still hale enough as she scrambled up.

"MILORD!" Frederick shouted. Chrom kept his back to the knight, instead drawing Falchion and bringing it forward in both hands. He leveled his gaze on the Feroxi commander. Shouts drifted down from the ramparts and Chrom caught a name from the soldiers.

"...Raimi, then? You said you wanted to settle this the Feroxi way. Is a duel close enough to that?" His answer was a raspy, dry chuckle. Raimi met his gaze, a glimmer of respect crossing her face.

"You've got spirit, I'll give you that." She squared off, picking a long spear up from the snow. Distantly Chrom heard the rest of the Shepherds grinding to a halt from their initial charge, giving the two room. In the corner of his vision Lissa held Robin back, keeping her from breaking into the fight.

 _'Good.'_ He gave his head the slightest dip to acknowledge them. All told, THIS was the sort of diplomacy he was comfortable with. He and Raimi began to trace a rough circle, feet pressing the snow down into a crude fighting ring. Chrom halted when they brought their weapons up, looking over Raimi. The spear easily had more reach than his blade. To stand a chance he would have to get in close and negate the advantage. Cold air burned through his throat and lungs as Chrom took a deep breath. Then he rushed.

The spear shot out to meet and skewer him. Chrom twisted hard to the side and dodged around. Snow shifted underfoot and he nearly overbalanced. Before Raimi could bring her weapon back up, he staggered inside the spear's circle for a brief instant. Chrom did what he could with the moment, hailing down slashes. Each strike searched for a weak point in the armor. Each was uselessly turned aside by the metal. Before he could strike again, a heavy mailed fist slammed into his gut. His breath rushed out and turned to steam. Chrom wrenched himself away, just missing a blunt spear end aimed at his head. He staggered back, while his balance did its best to give out.

He sucked in his breath, and his balance held. Only just, but it held. He faced Raimi again, trying to catch his breath through bruised lungs.

"Milord..." Frederick murmured, followed by the crunch of snow under horse hooves.

"Interrupt this duel, and I'll rain arrows and spears down on your heads." Raimi stopped the knight short with that promise.

"It... it's alright. We're not done-" Chrom heard himself rasp out, before the attack began anew. This time he was on the defensive. He constantly weaved and dodged away from a spear trying to find its mark. His limbs grew heavy and his breath ragged, thanks to the cold air seeping in and biting at his muscles. The only warmth lingered on his shoulder, still bleeding and picking out hot red trails seeping down his arm. The cut ached and burned against the winter air in equal measure, pulling at his mind.

"Cold cutting into you, brigand? You've a long way to prove your words." The spear lunged at him one last time-

For an instant, the world slowed down. Chrom saw the clouded sky reflected on the surface of the spear blade, the point aimed straight for his heart. It moved almost sluggishly through the air, while the snowflakes hung between the sky and ground.

His heart, however, pounded along at full speed. Sudden fire shot into his blood and burned the weight out of his limbs. Chrom drifted to one side and brought Falchion up to skim against the spear. The two weapons rattled where the steel met. With a shove he sent the weapon flying out of Raimi's grip. Another step brought him close enough to see disbelief creep across her face. He sent his armored shoulder crashing into hers. She toppled over, and Chrom planted a foot on her armor and pointed the blade at her throat. His world narrowed down to her neck at the end of the sword. A simple tip of his hand could snuff out her life.

 _'Don't. You won.'_ The thought flashed through his mind, and a second later he pulled the sword away.

"You yield?" He gasped out. A shocked nod was his answer, and Chrom stumbled away. Both his shoulders ached, and exhaustion settled over him like a mantle.

"Chrom? Chrom! Are you okay? I'm so sorry-" Sumia's voice reached him, and he glanced up to see the Shepherds approaching him.

"I-" His voice whispered out. Chrom forced himself to draw a breath.

"I'm fine. And I would've been in a lot worse shape if you hadn't reached me in time." He waved off her concern with a shaky grin that didn't fully meet his eyes. His arms trembled along with his smile, but at least Sumia looked a little more relieved.

"...Chrom? That's your name?" A voice from the ground drew his eye, and Raimi slowly stood up. "You fight like a prince. I misjudged you, greatly."

Something told him that was the closest he would get to an apology, so he simply nodded.

"Does this mean we have permission to enter Ferox by way of the Long Fort?" Frederick spoke up.

"Aye. And I would be proud to escort you, or... or act as your shield, whichever you choose of me." Raimi sighed out. "You bested me in single combat. By law and custom, this means you hold my life in your hands."

"Astonishingly well fought at that, milord." Chrom blinked at what Raimi and Frederick said, then at the spear laying on the ground. The weapon sank heavily into the snow. He wondered over being able to wrench it aside in the duel; at the moment he felt like he could barely lift Falchion enough to sheathe it again.

"...Before we can decide on what to do, I think my idiot brother needs medical attention. AGAIN." Lissa cut in, and in a way Chrom was grateful for her yanking him out of his thoughts.

"A-aye. We can regroup inside, and decide on our course from there." Was all he managed, before Lissa steered him towards the Long Fort.

-o-o-o-

Out from the cold and next to a fire, Chrom felt his strength slowly move back into his body. The shakiness and sudden bout of weariness fell off him, left outside with the snow. Lissa had healed his shoulder again, and this time left the bandages off, muttering that he'd only tear them off again and waste perfectly good gauze.

"Just try to hold off on anymore thrilling heroics for at least three days." She told him. Chrom simply nodded, and that was enough for Lissa. She left him sitting by the fire, walking over to a window in the shelter.

Lifting his head, Chrom could just look through the glass and pick out the scene below. Clear and dark against the snow, a small group of people left by horseback. If he looked long enough, he could pick out Maribelle's blonde hair, and Raimi riding in close escort. Their prior discussion drifted back to him.

 _"Interesting as this exploration has been, it's a touch too cold for my liking."_ Maribelle had told him, during the healing. _"And instead of blundering through anymore snowdrifts I'd much prefer to ride back to Ylisse as a messenger and tell them you've managed to reach Ferox."_

He couldn't bring himself to argue with Maribelle, and Raimi hadn't raised a fuss when he asked if she could be an escort.

Lissa frowned, pressing a hand to the glass. Her fingers obscured Maribelle and the escort riding away, back to the south.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she?"

"Raimi is a capable guard. Let's just hope we can sway more Feroxi to our side." Chrom answered, wondering if he could manage another skirmish if they needed it.

"Well, we've got a capable fighter on our side. That has to count for something." Chrom turned at the sound of the new voice, and saw Robin standing at the doorway. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. But Frederick was worried about you."

Her gaze held on him for a moment, concern teasing at the corners of her eyes.

"You... did look shaky after the battle, and we wanted to make sure you're well enough to march."

"I'm well enough," Chrom answered. "Just bruises and an opened shoulder."

Robin frowned over the answer, like there was something else on her mind. She never got the chance to raise whatever it was, as Chrom was already rising to his feet. Lissa put a hand on his arm to help him find his feet.

"Well, I guess I can brave the cold if you're all ready. And if there's a warmer building waiting for us." Lissa added in. "Any idea how long it'll take?"

"I heard Frederick saying that with another Feroxi escort, we'll reach the local stronghold by nightfall." Robin answered. "From there we can reach something called the East-Khan keep in another three days. Provided we start now."

"Right. We can try for it." Chrom told her, and watched Lissa and Robin move off down the hallway. A second later he followed them, trying to leave his uncertainty from the last battle well behind.


	8. Cold Comfort

**Chapter 8: Cold Comfort**

The audience hall echoed with the group's footsteps. The Khan's hall was a cavernous, stone carved place that seemed designed to make people feel small.

Robin walked alongside Frederick, content to let Chrom take the lead and be an official envoy. Though given the silence in the hall, Robin found herself wishing that Lissa had decided to brave the audience chamber with them. However, the warmth the Feroxi hall provided still wasn't enough for Lissa; the last Robin had heard, she was cocooned up in blankets in her own room with a roaring fire going.

Khan Flavia was a match for her keep, standing tall at the top of the dais. One hand spun an immense sword in her grip while she paced in front of the throne. She easily held the blade, larger than Falchion by several handspans. Flavia didn't sit when her eyes fell on the group, though she stopped moving. Robin looked over Flavia again, picking out more signs of a warrior that she'd overlooked in the initial introduction.

She kept herself from going red in the face over the memory.

 _'That could have been a diplomatic incident, if Flavia wasn't such a good sport.'_ She resolved to NEVER assume that warrior rulers were all brawn, or all male, ever again.

"Thank you for answering my summons." There was a curt edge to Flavia's voice, though not directed at them. While they all noticed the tension it was Chrom who spoke for them, carefully keeping his voice level.

"It's the least we can do; you've given us a chance to represent Ylisse in your tournament and win a chance at alliance and reinforcements." Chrom answered, and stepped to the front of the group. Having to look up the dais at Flavia did little to dispel his confidence, or forward nature. "We've spent two days training so far... though pardon me for saying, it doesn't completely fill the time."

"HAH! I'm afraid most feasts and festivities are on hold until after the games. People have a tendency to hold their breath in the week leading up to it." Flavia allowed a single laugh. "Though I regret to say, we're a touch more dour than usual. Typically we have a gathering beforehand, and yet my keep is unusually empty. It seems many of my vassals are hesitant in arriving."

The empty halls were a testament to that. Just the Shepherds weren't enough to fill the keep with conversation and the stillness made Robin's skin twitch. The Ferxoi keep was cold and quiet, like the snow drifts outside. Ylisstol may have had its share of ugly half heard mutterings, but Robin found herself missing the sound of a busy palace.

"...Why would that be?" Frederick spoke up. Flavia raised her head, the muscles in her neck sticking out from stress. Her face was equally intense but resolute as she looked squarely at the group, unflinching in her delivery.

"More incidents with bandits posing as Ylisseans. Roving bands of killers and looters have left my people wary of anyone who claims actual citizenship. It's getting to the point where they don't want to show OR owe favors to Ylisse champions."

"Damn them." Chrom grumbled and bent his neck down, glaring at the steps. He looked about ready to pick up Flavia's pacing for her. "Khan Flavia, this is-"

"Not your doing, I know. The fact is I'd prefer to be scouring the borders myself, but all of my men are gathering at the arena. This leaves a complication; the leaders underneath me don't want me to field any Ylisse champions. Given your performance at the Long Fort, I most certainly still do."

"I... thank you?" Chrom froze at that. "I'm glad something good came out of it, at least."

"I suppose I should be thankful you found that second wind." Frederick commented. If Chrom didn't notice the cautious look Frederick gave him, Robin certainly did. Likely because she shared a very similar expression. Several days had done very little to loosen the worried tangle in the back of her head over that fight. It had formed when Chrom impossibly dodged the spear and disarmed Raimi, and seemed intent on lingering around and rising to the front of her thoughts at any opportunity.

 _'Stop it. There's other things to focus on, instead of dwelling on a victory that did a good turn for us.'_ She kept the concern to herself. All told, it was good that Chrom was improving; it lessened the chance that there would be a repeat of their river skirmish. She just found herself wishing that she could manage the same amount of improvement. Or at least get back to holding a sword. She tried squeezing her hand into a fist, only to stop short thanks to a warning jab of pain.

"...However. I think I might have a solution to my problem and your boredom." Flavia pressed on. "If the prince of Ylisse elected to go out and look into the attacks himself, I doubt there's any who could voice doubts without looking paranoid. Better still if you solved the bandit problem."

"We'll do it!" Chrom all but jumped at the offer. "If you can lend us some horses to speed us along, we'd be proud to help. It's a lot better than just sitting around and waiting for the tournament-"

"...Milord." Frederick's voice was flat and echoing the look he gave Chrom. "Are you certain this is wise? You should not push yourself-"

"I won't, I won't. But it's been just about three days or close enough to it, just like Lissa requested. Besides, this IS a chance to improve relations between our two countries. Those are Emm's orders, after all." There was a smile behind his words that seemed to say 'and those orders take priority over healer's instructions.' Frederick must have caught onto it with how he let out a sigh.

"...Very well. But at least allow the Shepherds to ride out in force with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way! Don't worry; we'll be fine." Chrom said and nodded to Flavia. The East Khan began to outline the path they could take to a besieged region of Ferox. Robin just hoped their chances were as optimistic as Chrom's voice, and tried to force down the worried knot in the back of her throat.

"Robin?" Chrom glanced at her. "You alright?"

Robin kept her eyes on him and managed a nod. She could focus on the straightforward things for now. Chrom was standing up straighter now, and she wanted to see about keeping him on his feet. Plus making sure he wouldn't do something to reduce his chances of coming back alive.

"Well enough. I-I've a few notions already on how to help and increase our standing with the East Khan." Flavia gave her an admiring hum, and Robin was equally surprised at herself. "Just let me listen in, and I'll make those ideas more concrete."

Before she turned her attention to Flavia, Robin caught another wary look from Frederick. For a change none of his caution was directed on Robin herself, but instead on Chrom. The young lord was rocking back on his feet with a satisfied look, missing the uneasy way Frederick's eyes narrowed. For once, Robin found herself sharing Frederick's concern.

 _'Just focus on keeping them alive.'_

"Smart choices, all. I'd be happy to lend you some Feroxi horses to brave the snow. Now then, if you set out to the east, you should come across the village of Woodham..."

-o-o-o-

Snow swirled around them and crunched softly underneath the hooves of their horses. The powder coating the trail glimmered white from the moonlight and stars overhead, and the path itself wound gently through forested hills. Chrom kept a hand on the reins, guiding his horse along at the front of the convoy and looking back at the other riders.

Robin sat in the saddle well enough, though her one hand stayed tight on the reins. The other was well wrapped in warm furs and rested on her side to shelter it from the cold. Chrom's own wound was cut off from the wind, wrapped under his cloak and winter travel gear. His skin twitched a little, like it wanted to breath, but he stubbornly kept the cloth in place.

A pair of arms tightened around his waist, reminding him that Lissa sat in the saddle behind him. She was wrapped in even more layers than he was, and STILL shivering... though Chrom had the hunch that it was mostly for show and to remind him that she didn't like being out in the cold one little bit.

"Sorry Lissa, just stay patient. If worse comes to worst, we'll need our healer." His only response was a shuddering and long suffering sigh.

Behind them came the rest of the escort. Sully and Stahl guided their own horses just fine. It didn't matter if they were in Ferox or the warm lands of Ylisse. The horses moved surely either way and didn't complain from the weight of Miriel and Virion added to the saddles. Frederick picked up the pace, catching up to Chrom and riding alongside. A wary look stayed in Frederick's eye, and that eye stayed fixed on Chrom.

Chrom bit back a sigh and a retort that he needed a knight instead of a baby sitter. Frederick likely wouldn't rise to remark. A rush of wings overhead told him Sumia was braving the winds and riding along well enough, already adapting to the pegasus saddle.

"Prince! Heed me for a moment; is there a point beyond catching our death of cold out here?" Virion cut in on his thoughts.

"I wouldn't mind hearing the same," Lissa muttered. Chrom reined his horse up, allowing Sully to catch them so he could speak to Virion.

"There isn't much in the way of targets out here; I fear that if they stay idle for much longer, my fingers may freeze off!"

"If only you'd give your tongue a rest, if that's the case." Sully muttered. "Sorry Chrom, can you humor the man and explain what we're doing here?"

Chrom nodded, shifting a little further upright in the saddle so Lissa had something to lean against.

"There's a point. Even if we don't find any bandits, we might be able to help the villages. They've been hit more than a few times, and going by Flavia's word their defenses are hard-pressed and starting to splinter. From the sound of it-"

Screams cut through the trees and dug into Chrom's ears, faint but with a pitch that put his back up and snapped is head around.

"FIRE! Fire on the horizon!" Sumia shouted down to him. Her pegasus snorted and tossed its head, picking out whiffs of something acrid. "It's sending up a lot of smoke. Must be a village-"

"How far is it?" Frederick called from the front.

"Not too far, but the woods are heavy. There's... I think there's people running through the trees." Chrom glanced ahead for all the good it did. Thick trees choked the path, and overhead they strangled out the moonlight.

"Damn," Chrom spat out, but still managed to draw his sword and raised it up to draw attention. "We'll have to ride hard, but we need to try and reach them! Sully, Stahl, you're both skilled riders, but stay careful; we don't know this terrain. Take point with Frederick and try to find a good route to the villagers."

The mounted fighters surged forward. Chrom watched them in the corner of his eyes and turned to Robin.

"Any ideas? We could sure use some." She shook her head and narrowed her eyes on the forest, trying to gain some insight from the snow-clogged branches.

"For starters, you had better stay behind and in the saddle!" Lissa warned and tightened her hold on Chrom, just to make sure he didn't get any wild ideas about leaping ahead. "And don't strain that arm."

"Trying not to." Chrom fought to keep his breathing steady, and only just kept himself from spurring the horse into a gallop. Frederick was a stone's throw from them, trying to find a safe path through roots and snow drifts that could easily catch a horse's leg.

"...Sorry." Robin's words drifted in. She glared at the woods, and Chrom swore he heard her teeth grind in frustration. "I wish I could do something more, but I can't tell the layout of the battlefield."

His breath hissed out in aggravation. Chrom looked up to scan the trees and look for Sumia.

 _'Maybe she can pick out something.'_ His eyes landed on the sullen red glow above the trees, so much brighter than before-

Deep in his chest, his heart gave a strange lurch and pulsed in time to the fire light. The forest blurred around him, the shapes of trees growing dimmer with each breath. Snow hung in the air instead of falling, and Chrom had the faintest impression that wasn't right.

 _'Like... Raimi… before?'_ The thought moved like syrup, and Chrom canted his head to the side to try and make his brain work. The forest turned into a collection of pale smears, and his eyes fixed on the stars overhead. They burned brighter and whiter than any snow in the air. He thought someone shouted his name... Robin, perhaps. But her voice was far off, like she was yelling through a tunnel that only grew longer with each breath. Lissa's grip barely registered on his sides, and the weight of his body in the saddle faded out.

The world fell away, and the stars enveloped him completely. His eyes slid shut for a moment. When he opened them again, he was surrounded by night sky. The grip of the earth and his own weight vanished, and he floated. The trees and ground had long since dwindled beneath him.

It should have panicked him, yet it didn't; this was different from when he was flying with Sumia.

' _...better.'_ His body drifted at his command, dependent on nothing to stay in the air. When he shifted in the sky again, his eye picked out the glimmer of fire. It belonged to the village at the edge of the snow, brilliantly burning in glimmers of reds and oranges.

Almost beautiful in a way. A flicker of something dark pulled his eyes from the sight. He glimpsed black forms moving through the forest, and like a hawk he could pick them all out in clear detail. The night was no obstacle to his eyes. People charged through a small path in the forest. The snowy trail threaded between the trees, like a pale white river. A clear, sharp route if ever there was one.

The villagers fled with whatever they could carry, bandits giving chase with swords and axes drawn. They were focused in chasing the retreating forms, completely blind to something else moving in from the north.

But he could see them; more shapes, vaguely looking like humans and with a red glow in their eyes. The more he focused, the closer he drifted towards the villagers.

He pitched forward, like he'd somehow overbalanced. He fell faster and faster through the sky, no matter how he tried to twist and find flight. Below, two figures detached themselves from the villagers, turning to face the bandits-

"CHROM!"

The world snapped back into place around him. A second later snow billowed up around him and cold rushed in between the gaps of his clothing. His breath rushed out as the ground smacked into him, and he found himself looking up at a horse shying to the side. Lissa froze in the saddle, staring down at him in confusion. A second later another figure looked over him, her face framed by a violet trimmed hood and worry holding clear in her eyes. Her irises caught the growing glow from the fire, casting sparks in her eyes.

"Chrom...? What happened to you? You just spaced out on us and then..." Robin leaned over him, her horse off nearby and whickering. Chrom gingerly shifted his weight and pulled himself up onto his arms. A weight in his hand told him he'd somehow held fast onto Falchion.

"Robin... I think I know a way we can catch up. Do you think you can call out to Frederick, tell him to swing around to the south? We don't have to go between the bandits and the villagers, just slam into their flank. There- I'm really sure there's a game trail a little ways ahead. They can use that."

Robin's answer was to dash off to relay his orders, while Chrom tried to find his feet. He watched the gold trim of her coat vanish into the woods, wondering over how swift and sure footed she was in the snow.

For an instant, he felt like he could match that. The next, he was busier with holding Lissa off as she slid off the saddle and rushed over to him.

"Sorry, save the examination for later... I think we're about to see a lot of activity."

-o-o-o-

"Huh. Nice to know I got quality steel for a good bargain. Several parries and it's STILL holding an edge." Anna said, turning the sword over in her hand.

"If we live through this, you'll have to tell me the seller." The other woman replied. Anna gave a quick smile before they turned to face the marauders. Behind the two merchants the villagers charged through the snow. Some of them were still crying for help; most of them were saving their breath. At least Anna had managed to keep the gap between the villagers and their attackers intact.

 _'Probably because either of us would fetch more of a profit than any dead villager. Why wouldn't they focus on us?'_

Her cousin twirled a blade of her own up, ready to meet the bandit. "Still, quite the time and place for a family reunion."

Their blades both went up on cue, cutting together. They matched steps and dodged around a brigand trying to rush them. Anna's sword scraped across an axe, but her cousin found the softer mark. The bandit slumped over with a groan, and they spun around to face the next attacker. Then the next, and the next. Anna lost track of how many swords they'd dodged... but she could definitely feel the ones she hadn't got out of the way of. Her cousin was moving slower with cuts of her own.

"Poor luck..." Anna muttered. "I was hoping this would be a peaceful caravan trip when we reached the village. I guess riding in wagons has been making me soft with how cut up I've been getting."

Her cousin forced out a laugh at that.

"Yeah, and I was hoping to just unload some wares. Things don't quite go as planned, do they?" Anna tried to match the cheery attitude, and when she smiled it felt like her wounds didn't sting so much.

The arrow that slammed into her shoulder hurt plenty, though. Anna gasped out in pain and fell to one knee. Her cousin drew close to her.

"Don't worry about me!" She gasped out. "You might want to get away though; still people make for good targets."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather stay put. I'm pretty sure-" her cousin's blade cut out and sliced into an arrow hissing through the air. "Yep. Prices aren't the only thing I can slice in half."

"Do you really think you can keep cutting them down, though?" Anna picked out figures on the snow drifts, standing clear against the ridge. The creak of wood and bowstrings reached her ears. That promised a lot in the way of arrows. Much more than the last volley, and she was starting to realize just how dire the situation might really be.

Before the arrows could fly, something slammed into the archers. A man on foot cut the first brigand down in a brutal axe swipe. Anna lifted her head, about to call out thanks-

She stopped over the red glow in its eyes. The strange smoke coming from its mouth left her with a strange dryness in her own throat.

 _'...Maybe I should have taken that merchant up on holy charms, after all.'_ She had time to think, watching the Risen forces slam into the bandit ranks. The corpses swarmed over the brigands in a black, steel swinging tide. Pitted swords and axes chopped down on still living flesh, and it was the bandit's turn to scream.

"Out of the frying pan..." her cousin murmured. The howls from the bandits and the wet chopping noises couldn't quite drown out a new sound. Hooves from someone sending a horse charging through the snow. Anna forced herself back up onto her feet. Whatever was coming next, she was going to meet it standing up.

 _'More trouble-?'_

It certainly didn't look like that. Trouble from bandits or Risen rarely wore armor of such good quality. Or rode a horse of living flesh and blood. The man atop it lacked red eyes, but drew plenty of red with a silver chased spear. He cut into Risen and bandit both.

"Shepherds! RIDE!" The knight called out. He turned and saw both Annas, and pointed beyond her shoulder. "Run to the south! We have reinforcements there!"

"Thanks for the tip!" Her cousin shouted. She drew Anna's uninjured arm over her shoulder, and half carried her off into the trees. The trunks blurred by, before opening up into a small clearing. Horses and villagers both milled about. All restless, all looking for help.

"Stay steady," she heard a voice, raspy on the edges. "We WILL protect you."

"And heal where we can," added another voice, this one more feminine and with a worried squeak. "Just hang on, we'll get you all patched up!"

A white cape wrapped around the man that had spoken, almost hiding him in the snow. He looked like he'd been through just as much hell as everyone else with how he barely kept his head up. Blue hair kept falling into his eyes; distinct blue hair at that.

"Huh. Not every day you get a prince riding to the rescue. Bonus points for being a handsome one." Her cousin remarked, carrying Anna the rest of the way. Anna felt a smile ghosting back over her lips. Nearby a girl in yellow tended to the wounded. Out beyond the woods, steel clashed and made the girl take a tighter grip on her staff. The prince paced the clearing, sword in hand, looking tensed and coiled to use it... though he also seemed to be favoring one arm over the other, despite lacking any injuries.

Anna swore that the noises were getting closer, thanks to the reinforcements tightening a noose around all their enemies. She tilted her own head, trying to listen and pinpoint the sounds. Snow, and lots of it, crunched underfoot while the moans of the injured and dying drifted through the trees.

Suddenly, there was more than just noise and snowflakes in between the branches. Dark shapes crunched through the snow, bolting towards the clearing, and all of them carried weapons with a familiar ragged look to them.

"PRINCE! Behind you!" Anna managed to shout out.

He flinched at her words, turning in the same moment the bandits rushed out. The men held axes, screaming for blood and hostages.

"TEAR THE BLUE BLOOD DOWN! He's moving slow!" The lead bandit shouted, intent on burying his axe in the prince's shoulder.

By all rights the brigand should have done just that; he'd rushed the prince's blindside and had room to swing his axe down-

But the weapon didn't connect. The prince stared up at the brigand, and for a moment Anna caught a strange shimmer across his eyes. Then the prince side stepped the blow in a flash of motion. His sword arm was a blur of gleaming steel, cutting the bandit across the chest. The prince pivoted around smoothly and faced the second bandit, cracking him across the skull with the pommel of his blade. The third bandit almost had time to lose his nerve and stagger away, when the prince set eyes on him. His feet threw up snow in powdery gouts, letting him rush the last bandit and slice the man clean open.

The snow turned red, and the prince's body finally realized how fast it had been moving. His breath rasped out, and his body went slack as whatever gave him strength sapped out. He lifted a hand up and clutched at his head, eyes drawn away from the battle.

A second figure appeared from the trees, followed by another. Both broken forms. Panic rushed through the villagers at the sight of the Risen. But the corpses hadn't managed a step towards the villagers, the Annas, OR the prince when a golden bolt arced out. The spell forked in midair and pierced them both.

A woman in a thick coat raced up beside the prince, sides heaving. She wobbled in place, looking ready to keel over. The prince paused at that, grabbing the woman by the hand and holding her up. For just a moment, Anna swore she saw another strange glimmer moving along the prince's skin. Like moonlight off snow with a blue tinge-

It vanished fast. Her concentration broke when a few more figures on horseback moved out of the woods... these ones neither bandits nor walking dead.

"I think... I think we just made it in time," the prince said. "Thank the gods for it."

The cleanup that followed was almost anti-climactic, but somewhere in the swirl of activity Anna got her wounds mended. She rolled her shoulder to make sure it had healed right and saw the prince looking at them.

"No, you're not seeing double," her cousin cut him off before he could ask.

"Quite a family resemblance, eh?" Anna remarked, feeling her grin come back in full force. "So are you the Shepherds I've heard so much about? You've given my family more than a little patronage; I remember a pretty good haul when you needed to resupply some training swords..."

She wasn't imagining the prince wincing at that and murmuring something about the damn things breaking too easily.

"But yes, we wanted to help." He said at full volume. "We want to help staunch some of the losses the bandits inflicted. And hopefully we've solved that problem, at least for now."

"Did you see how he used that blade?" Anna heard a whisper from nearby, a combination of awe with a little fear trying to edge in. She knew the crowd was trying to decide whether to tip towards trust or panic.

A small waver of hesitation tried to close over her own heart and make it sink down. In all her travels, she hadn't seen anything quite like that fight. The smart choice may have been to hang back, and let things sort themselves out however they fell.

 _'But then again, what's business without a little risk and trying new things?'_

With that thought she decided to give the opinions a small nudge in the right way.

"...Yes, you just managed that. We would've been in worse shape without you, between Risen and marauders." The murmurs died away, and Anna gave the prince a measuring look. "Though we also owe you a debt, I think. You managed to save two of us, though we pride ourselves on taking care of ourselves. And call it merchant's sense, but I'm not ready to part with my wares."

"Why not have one of us tag along for a while, to honor the debt?" Her cousin chimed in. "Plus, I'm willing to bet I might find some good profits with the group. It should be a good deal for us all!"

"Huh..." The prince gave a nod. "Guess we're in business, then."


	9. Twin Blades

**Chapter 9: Twin Blades**

No fire burned in the Feroxi hearth tonight. His thoughts felt slightly feverish and his body already warm enough. His blood didn't care that the Woodham mission was several days past. Anticipation for what was coming next lent an odd heat to it. His eyes squinted from the one bit of brightness in the room; the little touch of light was still almost overwhelming. Chrom limited the lights to a few small candle flames, hidden behind thick lantern glass. It was enough to see by and undo the clasp of his cloak. He carefully hung the cape and Falchion both near the bed, within easy reach.

Even with the security of thick castle walls, he wanted the blade close. Something about Falchion's presence left him a little more at ease, like he could slash through any problems that faced him. That approach had served him well enough so far.

If only he could part his worries so easily.

 _'That was a close call, last time.'_ Who knew if there would be a repeat of close shaves in the next fight?

A knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts, and he turned his head towards it.

"Come in?" Chrom offered.

The door swung open to reveal a familiar robed figure. One he hadn't seen since the fight for Woodham. Chrom swallowed around an abruptly dry throat when Robin stepped inside, pushing her hood back to look at him. He didn't much like the sharp set in her mouth and eyes. It was an exact replica of the tense look she'd given him in the snow drifts, and during the ride back. She hadn't done any relaxing or unwinding during the fight... not any more than he had, at any rate. Her eyes flickered over the cold, empty fireplace, then back to him.

"Something's wrong," were the first words out of her mouth. It wasn't phrased as a question; it was an irrefutable observation. His throat went raspy as Chrom choked on any assurance that he was fine, and she was just imagining things.

 _'So she knows?'_ He wilted under the steady look she gave him, refusing to break eye contact until he spoke. It finally dawned on him that having someone that observant in the Shepherds might not always be for the best.

"You've been acting up over the past few days, and I'm pretty sure this isn't how you typically are." Robin said, worry adding weight to her voice as she walked closer. "I... wasn't fully sure what to make of the actions in the snowfields. I needed time to think over it and be sure. But I'd like to think I know you, and that you normally don't close yourself up in your room like this."

Chrom sighed and slumped against the bed. He dipped his head in a small nod. One of the lights guttered out, casting the room into a little more shadow. He could imagine how this looked; staying apart from the Shepherds each evening, and brooding like some sort of warlock instead of acting like a prince.

"I just needed time to think, and focus on what's coming next." He offered as an excuse. Robin didn't look convinced in the slightest. He wondered if she could pick out the heat trying to blossom along his face. Since arriving in Ferox it had been simmering in him each night, like a low grade fever. Always spiking the more tired he got, and seeming to radiate out from his shoulder as the nights closed in.

"Chrom... it's your mark, isn't it?" Robin's voice pierced the worries settling into his head. His eyes yanked back up to her face, going wide at how quickly she'd narrowed in on the problem.

"...Y-yes." He finally admitted. "But how did you-?"

"Because... something similar has been happening to me. Or almost happened in the woods. You're not the only one with a scar, remember?" She raised her hand between them, and Chrom swore he saw a glimmer of violet light shine through her skin. Maybe it was just a trick of the remaining candlelight, as the glint vanished when Robin continued.

"I was hoping it wasn't the same for you, but... what happened in those snowfields didn't look like natural fatigue. Neither did your sudden knowledge of where we had to go, or the second wind you got against the bandits." Robin breathed out slowly, flexing her fingers. "I've felt it too... though I don't know what you'd call it. A spark, I guess? It makes my blood go hot. And battles suddenly feel like nothing; it's as though I KNOW I won't die easily as long as there's fire in my blood."

"...It's not just battles." Chrom admitted. "Sometimes... it follows me into my dreams. I can't remember anything, but I wake up in a cold sweat."

Robin gave a slow nod at that, a haunted look settling into her eyes. He evidently wasn't the only one wrestling with nightmares he couldn't remember. Her eyes drifted over to the candles, watching the light ripple through the lantern glass. The flame deepened the shadows on her face, adding an extra layer of exhaustion.

"You haven't told anyone else?" He found himself asking and scooted over to give her a spot to sit on the bed. The effort made his cheeks flush hotter.

"I don't know how to tell anyone, to be honest. At first I thought it was a side effect of losing my memory. Headaches and half-remembered dreams, like you said." She looked at the empty space on the bed and sat down with a sigh. "Chrom, do you... remember any details of your dreams? All I can recall is flames and seeing someone wreathed in them. And sometimes there's this strange, sad feeling... like with that book. Where I feel something heavy in my heart but don't know why."

"Something like that. I don't remember any concrete details, but I do know there's fire in my dreams. And... screams." He shuddered from the faint memory, and sweat running down the back of his neck. "Lots of them. But I don't know how to tell anyone about that. It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud, that I'm suffering from nightmares I can't clearly remember."

But Robin wasn't giving him any odd looks. It helped, he knew, that she had experienced something similar and had an idea of what it was like.

"...I'm sorry, Chrom. I don't know how to fix it, but..." Her hand moved over his shoulder, and the heat under his skin dimmed. "I think I know how to help it, at least a little."

He stared at her, wiping sweaty bangs free from his eyes. Robin didn't quite meet his gaze when she spoke.

"It... actually happened when you held my hand. Back when we protected the villagers. Something about contact seems to help. If you'd like, I could call in Lissa, or-"

"No." The word rushed out. Only the hand on his shoulder kept him from bolting to his feet.

"Sorry, but please don't. I... I don't want them to worry. I can shoulder this, Robin. Let the Shepherds worry just about the Risen and winning Feroxi support." He saw just how flat Robin's expression had gone, mixed with a slightly sour look. "Besides... this hasn't actually made us lose any battles. The opposite has been happening."

"...I can't fully argue against that, but I still feel like I should." She grumbled. She frowned at their scars, and with her eyes off his face Chrom gave a brief smile. A little relief flooded through him and chased out the rest of the heat; he'd won her over, at least for the evening.

 _'Gods let it be that's all I'll need.'_

"You haven't exactly gone to Lissa either, with your concerns." He pointed out. Robin gave a huff, lowering her hand from his shoulder. "But thank you; it really does help a little."

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad I can help... with whatever this is. And I hope that it will go away, eventually. Or at least fade a little more."

"Maybe after the match tomorrow. If Flavia is right, we're going to need every advantage we can get against the East Khan's champion." If this wasn't all in their heads. In a way, he still hoped it was; just an after effect from fighting dragons and staring them in the eyes. A little optimism crept back in, and Chrom breathed a little easier. Robin simply gave a huff.

"Fine, fine. But for now... get some sleep."

-o-o-o-

The gates of the arena opened with a weighty groan, drawing cheers out of a thousand throats and pulling all eyes to the ring. Dim northern light filtered in from windows set in a massive domed roof, aided by glimmering torches set in the walls. She narrowed her eyes against the light and stepped through the gates. The world looked different through the slanted eyeholes of her mask, but it was a change she'd mostly adapted to. She'd taken the name Marth; she could hold onto it and the mask as her identity for now, and draw strength from it.

She'd need it with what she was about to face.

Across the wide arena floor Marth glimpsed the Shepherds stepping out. Chrom moved at the head of the group, Robin drifting a little behind him. The tactician's eyes scanned the arena, never halting while she moved. She stood apart from Chrom, but Marth wondered for a moment if she could see something between them, a subtle way they'd step closer together one instant before drifting apart the next. Behind them Vaike lifted his axe and played it up for the crowd, while Lissa rolled her eyes at him. She could still catch a hint of a grin on the blonde girl's face. At the very end of the group, the two cavalry fighters, Sully and Stahl were mounting up.

 _'You already know how this fight will go,'_ a voice whispered in the back of her head, scolding her. _'So why do you need to be here-?'_

She silenced the thought with a jerk of her head. She had her own purpose; she was here to make absolutely certain things went well for Ylisse.

Marth canted her head to the side and looked up towards the crowd. In a prime place on the stands the West Khan Basilio leaned over the parapet to watch the proceedings. His one eye shined, and he let out a booming laugh over something one of his retainers said. If nothing else, she'd be able to keep an eye on the West Khan. She'd hopefully have his ear, if and when the situation became dire enough.

 _'If you somehow win... and you don't have to.'_ She reminded herself. Her own men were strong enough, but she doubted their ability to face off with the Shepherds.

A soft sigh of steel drew her ear and eye, while the cheers rose to a fever pitch.

 _'Battle, then.'_

Her eyes settled on the Ylissean prince. The blade Falchion spun around in his grip, his hands easily accustomed to the weight. Marth's own draw wasn't nearly so theatric, but she saw how his eyes rested on the blade. They widened when he saw the familiar gold cross section, the teardrop hilt and guard and the razor edges. He should've known the blade, seeing how it was a near twin of his own.

"Where did you get that?" Disbelief thickened his voice. Marth didn't answer the question, keeping her words tightly locked behind her teeth.

"There's no way..." His shoulders tensed, the one warning she had before Chrom launched into the air and smashed down on her, all force and steel.

He had a vicious strength coiled up in his arms; Marth felt that well with the first blow she blocked. The vibration of the attack rattled through her arms and almost wrenched her blade free. Marth tightened her grip, braced her feet against the stones and threw him back.

Strike for strike the blades met, sparking and singing. Fear tried to latch into her throat each time one Falchion came close to scoring a hit, either on herself or her opponent. But the rest of her... the rest of her felt a thrill that she could test her strength and see how she measured up against Chrom. She was almost equal to him, with how she kept him on the defensive.

"Tell me- who taught you to fight like that?" He shouted out, dodging a downward cut. The next second they sprang apart. The rest of the fight fell away behind them, and her heart gave a strange squeeze.

 _'How could he recognize you? Why would you ever think he could?'_ She lunged forward and traded another strike. The steel rang out, Marth twisted around, and felt her feet leave the air. Her body knew the movements; how to leap, how to bear down on an enemy with a heavy strike. She'd never placed them all together at once, but now each move flowed together. Marth stared down at the prince, and her teeth parted enough to let a handful of words slip out.

"MY FATHER!" He didn't hear the pain behind those words, too busy darting to the side. Chrom leveled the blade back up, feet scrambling in an attempt to keep his balance. Marth forced a deep breath, readying herself to plunge after Chrom while he fought to bring his guard back up.

A crackling noise seeped into her ears. Chrom's eyes went wide, recognizing the sound faster than Marth. He dropped to his knees, curling his head and body a hairsbreadth away from the lightning bolt arcing through the air.

She wasn't nearly as fast... and Falchion made for a good lightning rod. Numbness raced along her arm, and the spell tore Falchion from her grip. The sword spun through the air with a hum, only stalling when it stabbed point first into the ground.

Bare handed, she ducked away before Chrom could lift his head. The young lord struggled up onto shaking arms. Beyond him, Robin staggered as her hood fell over her face.

 _'They still need to catch their breath-'_ And she needed to find a blade. It took her brain and hands a moment of desperate scrabbling to realize that Falchion had been knocked well beyond her reach. She tried to step towards it, only for a clatter of hooves to reach her ears. Marth yanked her head up, picking out a glint of red armor through the growing arena dust. Sully rode a tight perimeter around the battle and kept Marth cut off from the other soldiers.

That perimeter also did an excellent job of keeping Marth separate from her sword as well. Sully held her spear ready, leveled to keep Marth in the duel with Chrom. The rider's own sword hung unused in the saddle, iron hilt shimmering. Her muscles tensed up as the cavalier rode closer, narrowing her eyes to the hilt. Marth spun to the side as the horse thundered past, and her fingers just managed to ghost along the hilt. By the time Sully noticed what was happening and started cursing Marth out, the horse had carried her clear away.

Marth herself had a second blade, iron and with enough of an edge to hold against the other Falchion. Chrom was on his feet by then, but she didn't give him a chance to go on the offensive. She rushed forward and slashed down at him. A simple but brutally powerful strike meant to keep his guard up and lock them back into close combat.

Chrom saw the cut, moved to parry it-

A gasp of pain wrenched out between Chrom's teeth. His shoulder gave a spasm before his grip on the sword wavered. His guard came apart, the sword dropping too low and leaving a path clear for her borrowed blade to slice him open. She couldn't do anything to stop it. It was impossible to pull her strike now that her energy was behind it. The blade licked out, biting through cloth to pierce flesh and open him in a long red line.

 _'NO-!'_

She tried to shut her eyes against the red mess that was sure to follow. But Marth knew she'd still have to hear the wet noise of flesh getting slashed open as she cut into him.

 _'I didn't want-'_

The sound never came. Instead a rasp of steel striking something hard reached her ears. In response the iron rattled in her grip. Her eyes jolted back open. No red met them, but for a moment Marth _swore_ she saw a silvery glimmer of something.

 _'Chainmail?'_ That was what it felt like. For a heart beat, pale flakes drifted in the air like motes in a sunbeam. The fragments faded out as Chrom stumbled back, clutching his bare arm and barely keeping his balance. His tunic had a new rent torn into it, flesh showing underneath.

But that was all. No blood, no bone, no deep cuts.

Marth tried to breathe out in relief, only for a second spell to slam into her.

-o-o-o-

Robin hung back, watching and waiting for an opening as Chrom clashed with Marth. She'd already settled on the masked swordsman being the king in this match; topple him and the rest would follow.

Behind her the snort of horses told her that Sully and Stahl rode hard. Vaike shouted something, and of all people was joined by Lissa yelling alongside him. The Shepherds held their own... but still Chrom hadn't been able to land a blow. Neither had Marth, leaving the two locked in a stalemate. Robin bit at her lip, wondering how she could break it. There was no opening she could find, with how those two twin blades kept striking together.

 _'Twin hateful fangs.'_ The thought lashed across her mind in a strange, distorted echo of her own voice. A burst of black rage flooded in after it, lodging itself in her chest and burning away. Her body ached in time to it, the worst of the pain around her right hand. Her fingers curled in like claws as she raised them up, a spell already burning up her arm and out of her palm. Landing it correctly didn't matter just then, as long as she struck SOMETHING.

And she didn't see how it landed; the battle before her clouded over. Her head pitched forward, going foggy from the rushed spell. The anger fueling it made her ears buzz. Her hood draped over her eyes. Robin fought for clarity in her head, focusing on deep breaths and sluggishly lifting the cloth aside. Her eyes focused, and glimpsed two blurry forms in front of her.

Marth's sword cut into Chrom, and sliced into the rage clouding her head. Shock washed over her, and her balance lurched like she'd just taken a blow to the stomach.

Robin raised her still aching hand. The book in her other hand opened up, and the runes in the pages glowed for an instant before sparks flew from her fingers. The lightning spell blazed across the arena. For an instant Robin swore that the edges were laced with a fire like aura. Then the spell slammed home into Marth's shoulder, knocking the fighter back into a stagger. Chrom lurched to his feet and smashed hard into Marth. Both of them toppled over, the second blade flying from Marth's hand. The sword clattered across the ground, just a plain weapon, instead of a twin to Chrom's sword. Looking at it, the last of that strange haze in her mind evaporated.

Marth didn't rise again. His sides fluttered and his fingers twitched to show he was still alive, but the fight was smashed out of him.

Even with the danger past, Robin dashed towards Chrom. The prince was already fighting to find his feet. He leaned against Falchion to help himself stand. A few steps later and she was by his side and helping him up.

"Gods, Chrom... what happened to you?" She found her voice. "I thought that you were-"

"It felt like I was gutted, for a second there." Robin's eyes flickered down to the tear in his clothing. Yet that was all it was, without a hint of blood. The sick feeling in her stomach faded out at the sight.

"Th-that was a risky move," she said, rattled. "You didn't need to act that rashly..."

He gave her a half sheepish smile. Robin paused over how his eyes were unfocused. They drifted over her face several times before he managed to look straight at her. His voice, however, was solid enough.

"Yeah, but we won... didn't we?" His brow furrowed. "We did just win, right?"

Robin sighed out, shaking her head. This was exactly why she didn't approve of bashing into opponents.

"Yes Chrom, we managed a win. Take a look." She pointed up to the crowds, who reached a full on roar of approval. Chrom blinked a few times, trying to take in the sight and the noise. He forced himself to breathe as he stared up, until a halting, relieved laugh built in the back of Chrom's throat.

He stepped away from Robin, shrugging his way off her shoulder to stand on his own to wave to the crowd. Mid motion, his free hand found hers and lifted it up. Robin froze from the contact, and before she could protest he said, "It's half thanks to you that we won the day."

His voice was warm, and his fingers gently raised her hand up high. The last bits of pain died under his grip.

For a moment she couldn't find it in her to wonder over tactics or if they could have won that fight better.

Standing at his side just then, and having him safe, that was enough.

-o-o-o-

"Well then Prince, I remember my word to you. You'll get your troops... maybe not immediately, but once they sober up!" Flavia laughed over her own joke, while Chrom stood up against her hand slapping him across the back. "I'd send them sooner, but I don't wish any of these drunk fools on a new ally."

All around them the festivities carried on. With Flavia ascendant, her first act was to announce an alliance with Ylisse. Her second had been calling for the arena to be cleared out and food tables set up. Chrom had barely enough time to shift into an undamaged tunic when the festivities began.

A massive bonfire blazed in the center of the arena, and the vassals of the warrior realm all gathered around it. Chrom glimpsed fighters, craftsmen... yet no sign of Marth. The swordsman had vanished once Chrom and Robin looked away from him. Asking around only told Chrom that the boy had left with little more than a word.

"We'll be glad to have you as allies, sober or not." He shot back to Flavia, and felt his face grow warm from pleasure at the round of laughter his response provided. "I'm guessing there's few complaints about the alliance?"

"After your rescue at Woodham against two threats? I'd say not; most of Ferox is eager to throw in with you. And the rest know well enough to keep their thoughts to themselves." Flavia answered, before waving to one of her retainers and lifting a mug of drink to them. The retainer waved her over, and she gave him a quick grin before switching her focus to the other celebrants.

Chrom drifted away from the group and sat back against one of the benches, eyes drawn back to the fire pit. The heat dulled the worst of his bruises, and combined with the drink pushed a pleasant haze into his mind.

He didn't even notice that he was sitting next to Robin, until she gave a soft, awed "Oh..." at someone against the fire. A dancer moved in front of the flames, her long pink hair streaming out like ribbons behind her. Accompanying her was a wheeling song from fiddles and flutes. Combined with her movements, it almost looked like she was flying through the air.

"Noticed her at last, boy?" Came a heavy voice just over Robin's head. Chrom picked the speaker out, a man with a patch over one eye. He stood tall, with a proud air. "She's one of our dearest treasures in Ferox; it takes years to memorize the steps to a dragon dance that well. Xane's lyrics have always translated into ankle twisting numbers."

"...Dragons?" Robin spoke. She lifted her head to look up at him. "There's dragons in Ferox, too?"

"Aye. Not many, but a few. Often enough we'll honor them with a dance before or after battle, to thank them from staying their claws and their fire." Chrom blinked over that, and he knew his face was a match for Robin's in how puzzled he looked. The man noticed it, and cracked a brief grin.

"Oh, we respect them well enough. It's the dream of every warrior to match one in fighting spirit. But we like it if they keep to the wilderness. They're a powerful race, and them mingling with humanity rarely leads to anything good... though sometimes Naga's line produces something." Chrom braced up again for another slap across the back. That one almost bowled him over. "Though you DID unseat me, boy. I'm not decided yet if I like you or not because of that."

"W-wait." Robin stared up at him. "Doesn't that mean you're-?"

"West Khan Basilio, aye. Former Grand Khan of Ferox... I'll probably get used to the title change. And working under Flavia."

"You'd best, oaf!" Chrom blinked over Flavia's choice of words, but couldn't hear any real malice behind them. The new Khan approached the bench, with Lissa trailing after her. His sister gave him a quick once over, but seemed content with how he sat on the bench.

"So what happened to that champion of yours?" Flavia continued. "My own was asking for him!"

"Up and left. I'd a mind to ask the boy to stay on with me for future skirmishes, but he'd have none of it." Basilio rolled his shoulders in a shrug, and gave a low, almost disappointed sigh.

"Aloof, that one... almost a match for my second. Speaking of which, it's high time I introduced him. If I can find him anyway; man's probably done the impossible and found some dark corner in a round arena." Basilio chuckled at his own remark. "He'll be returning with you. A show of West Ferox's support for the alliance."

"I want to go with you!" Lissa piped up. "If... if that's okay. But you built him up sounding like a match for Marth. I'd like to see him for myself."

"Good spirit, healer. So the blood runs strong in all Naga's line." Basilio reached out and to Chrom's surprise, gently took Lissa's hand to lead her away, almost acting like an escort to the tiny princess. Flavia followed them both.

"What did he mean, Naga's line?" Robin spoke up, watching them melt into the crowd.

Chrom turned to Robin, noticing again how the firelight lent her eyes a strange spark. "Naga is the guardian of Ylisse... some might even say the world. I already told you about how she lent her power to the first Exalt to seal away a great calamity. Falchion was irreplaceable and tempered for that task, forged from one of her fangs."

Robin nodded along, and he saw how her eyes strayed to first the blade, and then his brand. She chewed her lip at his words and glanced over Falchion, but kept her focus on him.

"There's a similarity between Falchion and the brand for a reason. The Exalt's line has been blessed by Naga with a portion of her blood and her power... at least, that's what the stories tell us." Chrom rubbed his thumb over his shoulder and noticed how Robin's eyes fell towards her own brand.

"There's stories drifting around about other dragons occasionally mingling their blood with a line of people, too... sometimes for good, sometimes for ill." Chrom raised his head to look back up at the dancer. She spun around the flames, almost looking like she was falling from her former place in the sky. "In Ylisse we mainly see it as a blessing. Though in Ferox since dragons are a touch more common... maybe they've either lost their mystical side, or they just have more reason to be wary of them."

His thoughts yanked themselves back to that night outside Woodham. He could still remember that hallucination that gripped him. His gloves crinkled as his hands balled into fists, the pressure reminding Chrom that he was still in the present. It also reminded him that despite his worries, the mental attack hadn't seized him again.

 _'Just that moment of weakness against Marth. Another close save.'_ His hand relaxed enough to drift down to his side; the skin felt oddly raw still, like the iron blade had just skimmed his flesh. Robin's eyes moved along his arm, taking in his words.

"That explains a lot about their attitudes up here. I'm sorry I didn't know-"

"How could you? Your memory was half gone."

"And is still mostly gone, I'm afraid." Her shoulders sagged, though from relaxation or depression it was hard to say. "It's been how many weeks, Chrom? And I still have nothing... though for the most part I don't have a lot of time to dwell on it."

Her eyes flickered between the fire, and the tendrils of smoke curling up into the great dome overhead. The dancer finished with a flourish, bowing low while voices murmured in approval. Chrom was dimly aware of the other celebrants, but found them fading away to shadows while he kept his eyes on Robin.

"Chrom... I'm thankful for having a place with you- your Shepherds, I mean. You've given me a place to belong." She took a deep breath, before whispering out what could have been a confession.

"And if nothing else... I'm glad that I remember tactics. I'm not sure I'd trade them out for another set of memories." Her hands clasped together, and Chrom had a guess for what else she was saying; she'd rather be a useful amnesiac than someone completely without skill, or power to do anything about her situation. "I... like being here. With all of you."

He wondered if her face had gone a bit red at that; maybe it was just a trick of the fire. The light had a way of making her look more raw, more exposed despite being enveloped in her robes. Something about her words made his tongue feel clumsy when he tried to speak.

"Well... I'm glad to have you with us. You fought well in that last fight- no, GREAT in that last fight. And... and I'd enjoy fighting alongside you more. If possible. I think that we make for a pretty good team, right?" Gods help him, HE was having a hard time making sense of his words. He didn't know how or if Robin could find any meaning or comfort in them.

But to his surprise, she gave a small nod and an even smaller, "Thanks..." and looked almost bashful over the compliment. "I wouldn't mind fighting alongside you. In particular."

Chrom let his breath out at that, leaning forward, and his muscles relaxing all the way. For a moment his shoulder brushed against Robin, and he found it resting there for a moment longer. Almost like the two fit together.

"HEY CHROM! You've got to meet this guy and see him for yourself!" Lissa called out over the crowd, and Chrom jolted to his feet. Lissa waved to him through the press of people, Basilio next to her and a new swordsman standing a bit further back. The newcomer wore a stormy expression, but Chrom saw at once that the rest of his body was carefully tuned; neither tensed nor relaxed, simply ready for whatever was thrown at him.

 _'Would that I could do that.'_ He resolved again to have a little more discipline on the battlefield. He wasn't about to let a small grade fever get the best of him, even if he needed to rest up for a few days and be off the training grounds. With that he looked between the crowd and Robin.

"R-right. Sorry. I should play the diplomatic angle a little more..." Just then, he found himself enjoying it even less than before. But Robin favored him with a brief smile and waved him away to go do so. Then she turned back to the bonfire with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

For a moment, he felt something heavy settle into his chest. The weight only grew when he turned his back on her and the flames. But then it was back to diplomacy and hoping this would be enough for Ylisse.


	10. A Fragile Peace

**Chapter 10: A Fragile Peace**

Robin breathed in the warm and sweet air of Ylisse. She filled her lungs up and let the air chase out the last of the Feroxi cold. Intriguing as the warrior realm had been, Robin found herself glad to be back. Seemingly overnight, weeks of snow finally gave way to harvest rich fields. And ahead of them Ylisstol glimmered, acting like a white beacon in the green coated fields.

Robin let herself smile and walk along the path with Lissa at her side. The new swordsman in their company, Lon'qu, kept a distance behind both of them... though Lissa clearly relished seeing how much she could slow her steps down before he noticed what she was doing and came to a halt. Robin found it her responsibility to keep the pace mostly even and keep the two in line.

"You," she told Lissa after the third time "are impossible."

"I prefer the term 'spirited.'" Lissa replied with a grin. Now that they were back in Ylissean lands her step was a little lighter. "C'mon, keep that smile on your face! We're finally home!"

 _'It does feel the closest to home, compared to anywhere else.'_ Robin realized with a start. There was something welcoming about this country. Maybe that feeling was just thanks to the memories she was making from it, and how everyone's spirits lifted inside the country.

"Robin!" Sumia brought her pegasus up next to them, though the mare had an odd, jumpy step. From how she tossed her head the pegasus wanted to be up in the clouds instead of picking her way along the ground. "I know you've got some marching orders but I was wondering-"

"Go on ahead and get into the sky." Robin answered. "Don't worry, it isn't disrupting us. Think of it like being a forward air scout instead, if you want."

Sumia gave Robin a happy and relieved wave before pressing her heels to the pegasus. With a whinny the horse leapt for the sky and Sumia floated on ahead.

"...I wish I could reproach you for breaking the ranks like that." Frederick spoke up, a little behind them and guiding his horse. "But the fact is she has a use up there. And is... happy enough in the sky."

"How's your project with helping out around the camp going?" Lissa asked.

"We didn't set anything on fire or break anything this morning, so I consider it an improvement." Robin stared in confusion when Frederick answered.

"Frederick, correct me if I'm wrong but I THINK I saw you smile for an instant. And you aren't bringing an axe or a spear down on anyone."

"A momentary lapse," Frederick continued, but still with a smile on his face. Lissa give a small and thoughtful 'hmm' while she watched the knight. But by then Frederick was sending his horse ahead to where Chrom was. Once again the prince was back in the saddle at both Frederick and Lissa's insistence.

"He's looking better." Lissa sighed out. "Not falling off the saddle or anything, thank the gods."

"You looked over him again?" Robin found herself asking. The prince looked at ease where he rode... which meant very little after what had happened in the woods, and the arena.

"Yeah, and I can't find anything WRONG with him. No infection, no fever..." Lissa gave a helpless shrug. "Maybe he's just been pushing himself too hard. I'm glad we're finally getting him back to Ylisse. Hopefully he can rest up... and that applies to you, too."

Robin dodged to the side before Lissa could jab a finger or elbow in her ribs.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice! In all honesty I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and spending some time with some books." Back in Ylisse, in whatever room she could pick out for herself. Lissa had told her that much; she was for all purposes a Shepherd and had the same privileges as any veteran.

A shadow fell across them, cast by the white walls of the capital. The solid stone made for a welcoming sight after days on the road. A cheer built up on the other side once the first of the Shepherds walked through the gate or flew over the ramparts.

"Huh. News travels fast." Sully spoke up from behind Robin.

"But of course! Such tales of valor lend themselves easily to fast travel!" Virion called out. "Of course they speak of new alliances, and-"

"And you being the archest of archers, yes." Robin finished for him with a laugh. "But I admit, I'm ready to get back to the castle."

"All in due time, milady tactician." Virion answered. "But allow us a brief procession through the capital; let the messengers speed on ahead and prepare a proper welcome."

Her feet complained, saying they weren't ready for another slow walk. Robin shut that out in favor of listening to the cheer of the crowds and watching the assemblage. Someone had elected to use flower petals to accent the occasion, and they were thrown into the air by the basket and handful. Up ahead Chrom raised a hand to the crowd. His smile lit up his face and banished the tired lines around it. The effect made Chrom look well pleased with himself.

 _'As well he should,'_ Robin thought, blowing a few flower petals out of her face. Not a trace of autumn showed in the capital. No trouble lingered in the streets for that matter, and they wound their way back up the hills.

That all changed when they stepped into the castle proper. Robin's first clue was how empty the courtyards were. A somber mood coated the Shepherds. When the last of them stepped inside and the doors shut behind them, the cheers grew muted. The only sounds came from a few stable hands running up to help the Shepherds dismount and unburden the horses.

Sumia moved among them, trying to keep the horses calm. She combed her fingers through their manes, to keep them from picking up on the tension with mixed success. The animals whickered and scrapped their hooves against the courtyard stones.

"Something's wrong..." Chrom spoke for all of them. He dismounted easily, and waved Lissa and Robin over. As she moved closer Robin caught out a few words from Sumia.

"No word, but it seems like everyone that could be spared has withdrawn to the audience hall. Whatever's going on, the Exalt wants things calm and not to stray outside the walls."

Chrom lost any ease he'd picked up during the procession. He curtly nodded to Robin and Lissa to follow him, before turning to Frederick. The knight motioned for Sumia to give him a hand.

"We will see to the Shepherds, milord. Go to your sister, and quickly."

-o-o-o-

Chrom didn't break his pace as they approached the doors to the audience hall. He threw his weight into them, and shoved the doors open with a bang and a rattle.

This time there weren't any murmurs or whispers to greet them. Robin and Lissa fell in behind him as Chrom strode in. Together they carried that uncanny silence from the courtyard into the audience hall.

At least his sister was well. Chrom let himself breathe easy once he saw her seated on her throne. She watched Chrom from over the head of an envoy.

By the clothes he wore, the man was a village representative; by his wounds, he'd been through a hard time. The envoy had stopped short from whatever he said, flinching from the doors.

Chrom cursed under his breath for spooking the man. So much for decorum.

"Exalt Emmeryn? We're reporting in from Ferox, but clearly there's pressing matters to attend to first. We wish to listen in." Robin filled the pause before Chrom could find the words. Maybe he should have felt irritation over how she'd spoken first while he struggled; instead he gave a quick nod to lend some authority to her words.

Between the two they coaxed the speaker into continuing his tale.

"Your grace, the bandits fell upon us." Chrom's throat went dry, making his breath sting as he inhaled sharply.

"They razed the village and would have killed us all, if it wasn't for the Feroxi warrior." His chest tightened at the envoy's words. Anger tried to burrow into his heart... only to stall out and get replaced with shock at the other words.

 _'Feroxi warrior?'_ A glance at Robin showed the same bewildered expression on her face. Along with the beginnings of a theory.

"Would that I could do more." A familiar voice echoed across the room. Raimi stood to one side with her arm braced and splinted. A bandage wrapped itself around her head, still stained slightly pink. Yet against all of that Raimi still stood in a light jacket, tall and proud as any Khan. "Those 'bandits' were better trained than most soldiers and equally well armed."

That tale had an all too familiar ring to it. Anger smoldered back to life at the edge of Chrom's thoughts.

Raimi's gaze fell on him. "Well met, Prince. I wish it could be in better circumstances-"

A flurry of pink and blonde rushed by Raimi and clapped hands on Lissa. From practice and reflex Chrom side stepped out of the way. Even Robin was fast enough to do the same while Maribelle pulled Lissa into a tight hug.

"Thank the gods you made it back safely! I've been trying to heal our injured, but my skills have yet to measure up to yours. I was terrified you'd be set on by brigands as well-"

"Wait, wait." Robin held up her hands, clearly trying to tie together all the different stories while Chrom spoke out.

"What exactly happened here?"

"Ill news, I'm afraid." Emmeryn spoke at last. "A few days prior, one of our border towns was set upon by what could have been brigands. But from all reports, we've reason to believe Plegia had a hand in it. The town was burned completely to the ground."

Maribelle hung her head and bumped it against Lissa's shoulder. A crushing dread mingled with the heat building in Chrom's chest. He looked at Maribelle, so battered and near breaking. His mind's eye pictured Woodham again, burning bright and crackling logs mingling the screams of the townspeople. Only this time the buildings were Ylissean and he could picture Maribelle among those fleeing.

"Easy, Chrom." Robin's whisper brought him back down to earth. Her fingers ghosted along the skin of his arm before falling away when she saw he'd regained his focus.

"Many more would have been killed or taken hostage if it was not for the presence of this Feroxi woman and her warriors." Emmeryn continued. "I understand that you were the one to send them along with Maribelle as an escort, Chrom?"

Chrom managed a stiff nod and kept his hands clenched at his side.

"Then this was a turn of good fortune to us... or at least better than what could have been." Emmeryn sighed out when she spoke. "However, at the same time Plegia is accusing us of forming an alliance with Ferox to attack their borders. They consider the presence of Feroxi warriors on the edge of our territory to be proof of that."

"Plegia dares that!?" Chrom snapped out. The hall rang like a bell from the force of his voice. "They attack us, they send raiders into Ferox, and now they want to say WE'RE the aggressors? Those bastards have a lot to answer for-"

"Brother, please." The strained expression on Emm's face halted Chrom. The thin line her lips had formed showed she was almost at the limits of her composure. "We cannot take action against Plegia. Even with the Feroxi aid you've secured, we would still find ourselves fighting a two pronged war against Risen and another country. We called upon Ferox for one task, and I have no wish to press them into another..."

"Yet, our own honor would have us gladly answer this offense." Raimi answered. "My lady Exalt, Ferox is not afraid to go to war."

"Your readiness is appreciated, but we should not easily give up our peace. My friends I am sorry, but I will not so eagerly march to war. But neither will I ignore this." Emmeryn stood up. "Good sir, tell your refugees that Ylisse will gladly support them for as long as need be. And in the meantime, we will send envoys to the border to treat with any Plegian forces they find. Again, I beg you all not to give into war so readily. We may yet find a peaceful solution to all of this."

Chrom said nothing, instead lowering his head and glaring at the floor. He forced himself to breathe in and out until he could trust his voice enough.

"...As you say. But if nothing else, please let me take our forces out again post haste, to patrol and to make sure the Plegians STAY on their side of the border."

"In a few day's time, yes." There was a strange, cautious note flickering across the Exalt's voice. One that sounded close to sorrow and worry. "Once you have rested and resupplied. But after that, I ask you to return to the capital and soon, brother."

"...Emm." Chrom's voice came out hushed and tight. His throat tried to strangle his words out and leave him with only a growl. "I-I promise."

His hands were going numb as he kept them balled into fists. "Just don't ask me to sit by and do nothing. I want to protect our people, the same as you."

"I know. And I value that; never doubt that." With those words, Chrom gave her quick bow before turning hard on his heel. Storming back out to the stable. He never noticed how Emmeryn and Robin's eyes lingered on him.

-o-o-o-

 _'They certainly aren't ones for staying still. Not for long at any rate.'_ Anna thought to herself, trailing a hand through the reins. She led her own horse forward on foot and shaded her eyes against the setting sun. The drum of other hooves had long since faded. She traced her own path through the Ylisse countryside, acting like something between a forward scout and a prospective merchant.

 _'Just as well. I'm not all that interested in resting either.'_ Her horse tossed his head, setting the wares on his back to clanking and jangling. Anna rested a hand on his neck while the other stilled the bundles.

"Easy, boy. Even if we're in Ylisse, that doesn't mean we have to walk around telling everyone we're here." Not with bandits prowling around. Anna sighed out at the thought. They'd seen evidence of attacks, but no groups yet.

She wasn't sure if she was glad for that or not. On the one hand they were staying a step away from danger. On the other, while bandits were anything but good for business, liberating their ill gotten goods very well COULD turn a nice profit.

 _'One thing at a time.'_ They weren't far from a small farming hamlet. An out of the way place but with a reputation for producing good crops and salted meat. One of her sisters had shared a snack of it with her on the road. She planned to introduce the Shepherds to the treat and buy a few bundles of her own. Anna scanned the darkening horizon with a frown.

 _'You'd think we'd be upon it by now. But there's nothing resembling farms or a village-'_

With her eyes on the horizon she didn't see the body hurtling towards her. Not until it smacked straight into her and fell back. The horse shied with a snort and Anna just kept her footing, all while scolding herself for not dodging out of the way. The other wasn't so lucky and toppled over. He hit the ground with a loud "ooph!" that knocked all the air out of him. The fall left him staring up at her from underneath his helmet.

Anna checked again, and realized he was wearing a cooking pot on his head.

"Y-ya ain't a bandit?" He finally stammered out.

"I can pull off bargains at a steal, but that's the only bandit thing about me." Anna told him. The boy stared at her in confusion, still trying to catch his breath. Even if he wasn't talking Anna found herself putting the facts together fast. "You've been beset by them?"

"Y-yeah. The stinking thugs drove us out of our town, those they didn't capture. I was runnin' trying t' find help and-"

"Well, you don't have to run any further. Anna, new associate of the Shepherds at your service!" She put a flourish into her bow, hoping it would set him a little more at ease. The gamble paid off, judging by the surprised laugh that jolted out of his mouth.

"Shepherds!? Well, I'm Donnel. I can't tell ya' how glad I am y' decided to show up now. We need your help-"

"...You aren't going to get it." A new voice growled out, causing her horse to stamp and shy. Anna picked out the Plegian accent while she let go of the reins. She drew steel in the same motion and looked for the speaker. Her eyes fell on a brute of a man running his thumb over the edge of his axe. "I go runnin' after a runt, and I find a real nest egg and bird to go with it. You'll fetch a pretty price, if you don't put up a fight."

"Afraid I've heard that pitch before, dear." Anna countered. "From salesmen about the same caliber as you. Never did buy into it, myself. I'd suggest you save yourself some grief, turn around, and just start running now."

The man's face pinched up in the fading twilight, and he advanced on them with rage in his eyes. Anna stepped forward, shoving Donnel behind her-

But she never got the chance to attack. A dark figure loomed up behind the bandit, followed by the streak of silver and gold steel. The bandit only managed a half turn before he died with a gurgle. He never had a chance to raise his axe, and collapsed to the ground with a look of confusion and disbelief permanently carved into his face.

The sun set all the way, with one last flash of red and crimson. The sky blackened and the swordsman stepped over the fallen bandit. His head was pitched down and his face almost obscured by the blue hair.

Chrom glared down at the body. For a moment Anna swore she saw a spark of light in his eyes, like so many moons ago in the snow. But she blinked, and it was gone.

 _'A trick of the light.'_ She told herself.

"Prince?" She managed, jolting Chrom's focus away from the body. "How did you get so far ahead of everyone else?"

"...Smoke." Chrom answered. "I was restless, and then I smelled smoke."

Anna lifted her head and finally had the scent sting at her nose. Her other senses opened up enough to let her hear the approaching steps from the rest of the Shepherds.

"Donnel, was it?" Even though the immediate danger was gone, Chrom's voice still came out in a growl. He only half looked at Donnel so the boy wouldn't be exposed to the glare Chrom couldn't seem to get out of his features. "You wanted help... and I'll be glad to give it to you. Point us towards their hideout, and we'll take care of the rest."

-o-o-o-

Robin's only warning was the faintest whiff of smoke. A blink later and Chrom vanished from the head of the column. The rest of the Shepherds threw up dust on the road in their struggle to catch up with him. Frederick shouted for him to wait while the knight pulled himself into the saddle. Lissa got just enough breath to ask why he was running; both of their calls went unanswered thanks to the speed Chrom was running.

In the rush Robin didn't have room to wonder why the others failed to notice the smoke in the air. The Shepherds stayed oblivious to the burning taste in the air for a good minute. By the time the others noticed, they'd found Chrom standing over the first body.

Chrom waved off Lissa's questions, already outlining a hurried plan on how to best attack the brigands. During the rushed plan and march to the hideout, the smell of smoke and blood turned the air thick and pushed a haze into Robin's mind.

After that, Robin found herself chasing after the prince's white cape. First over fields, then into the ruins of what could've been an old keep. One crawling with brigands.

All through it, Chrom took point and lead the charge. She had little choice but to draw her own cloak over her shoulders, and keep her spell book handy until her fingers ached from so many lightning spells. The charge was fierce, ruthlessly efficient... and considering what the bandits had been doing to the countryside Robin couldn't find it in her to flinch over the task. Not in the heat of the battle at least.

When Robin's vision finally focused, it was on an orb a few feet in front of her face. It glimmered a gentle blue that melted away some of the haze in her brain. Behind it Robin picked out a prim and proper face currently scrunched with concern.

"Back with us? Good." Maribelle's voice was carefully coached into something proper. The only that betrayed her concern was how her eyebrows furrowed together. "I must say, you're handy to have in a battle. You and Chrom carried most of the fight... though I have to wonder at how reckless you can be."

All Robin could manage was a nod to that, her brain scrambling to piece together the details. She could just remember laying into bandits with lightning and the rumble of thunder deafening her ears to any screams.

 _'It wasn't like fighting Risen at all. Risen don't flinch when they bleed, or fold under the initial charge.'_

"Is everyone-?" Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with sand.

"Quite alright, Robin." Maribelle sighed out in relief. "We didn't have a repeat on the border, thank the gods. Injuries have been minimal too, though I have a few more to see to, now that you're back with us."

Maribelle stood up and strode over to a group of villagers. Her voice rang out clear, telling them to form up and that everyone would have their injuries treated. Robin got to her feet and tried to move through the sacked bandit camp. Even with a healing her brain stayed stubbornly cloudy; it was almost like she sleep walked through the next hour, just like she had during the prior battle.

Through her muddled vision, she glimpsed the boy that had guided them to the camp.

 _'Donnel. That's his name.'_

He stood apart from all the healing. The spear rested a little more sure in his hands. He also looked a little more confident, as he talked with someone that had a strong family resemblance. Looking confident enough to go with them, "For Ma and the rest of the village" as he put it. Robin shook her head, wondering over getting another recruit for the Shepherds so suddenly.

 _'Should tell Chrom about it.'_ The thought slogged through her brain. She lifted her eyes and just glimpsed the back of Chrom's head over one of the crumbling walls.

"Well enough, milord." Frederick spoke to Chrom, while the villagers all moved out of the ruins. "None of the bandits survived. I've already left orders to build a mass pyre to prevent them from coming back as Risen. These people have had enough troubles without having to deal with the reanimated dead."

Robin took a few steps closer to them, trying to wet her throat enough to speak. But before she reached them, Donnel moved ahead of her.

"Thanks-" Donnel started, but he and Robin both paused when they saw the tightness in Chrom's shoulders and his hands clenched into fists. Though his back was to them Robin could imagine the glare in Chrom's face, going by his voice.

"...I almost wonder if they deserve the honor of a pyre-" Chrom muttered. That was when Donnel's boot decided to crunch down on a branch and yank Chrom out of whatever turn his thoughts had taken.

"MIlord? Are you-?" Frederick spared a glance at the two but kept his eyes on Chrom.

"I-I'm sorry Frederick. Of course you're right." Chrom turned around and gave a wave to Donnel and Robin. His arm still moved with a stiffness. "My apologies... Donnel, was it? I thought I overhead something about you wishing to join the Shepherds. We may want to return to Ylisse with this report, and make it official."

"Ah- I ain't in no rush... though I never been to the capital before." Donnel answered. "Don't you worry none about the burning, too. We got a tradition here with funeral's 'n such. With all the wood around it just seems right to send the dead back to the gods... or back to the demons, given some company."

Donnel kept from spitting, but just barely. Chrom didn't take any exception to his words or actions. Instead the prince nodded.

"You should keep those customs alive, in that case. But... excuse me for a moment."

 _'No welcoming speech for Donnel?'_ Robin wondered, and Chrom moved away. A stormy look settled back over the prince's face. Behind her, Frederick stammered out a hasty introduction to the new recruit. There was a surprising amount of pauses in the knight's speech, sounding almost nervous around the boy.

Robin turned to offer a few words of her own, but with only half her attention on the talk. The rest of her thoughts remained on the prince, and worried over the dark cloud that seemed determined to linger over him.


	11. Unrest

**Chapter 11: Unrest**

"It could host most of us, judging by the size of it." Robin looked up at the inn as she spoke. The structure sat right at the crossroads and towered over the Shepherds' heads. Orange light streamed out of the main door and cast a welcome glow in the evening air. She wasn't a perfect judge of inns, but to her eyes it looked like a good place to sleep.

"Maybe it could, but the fact is we need to keep moving." Chrom answered and kept his eyes on the path. He didn't even glance at the inn or the town once he was sure it was still standing and untouched by bandits. "I don't want us pausing when-"

"CHROM. COME. ON." Lissa stomped over on each word. She looked like she wanted to drive her feet on top of his instead of just the ground. "You've had us out for WEEKS making camp, fighting bandits, and now marching back to the capital. We can take one night off."

That snapped Chrom out of his morose look. Chrom sputtered and stammered while backing away from Lissa. "L-Lissa, just- just wait a minute. We need to get back to Ylisstol and tell Emm about what we've seen-"

"And we will! But I don't know how it serves Ylisse if we all collapse from exhaustion. And tonight I'd like to sleep with a roof over my head, and get something other than rations in my stomach." Chrom opened his mouth to challenge that, before closing it with a click and giving Robin an imploring look.

"...Actually, Chrom? To be honest I agree with Lissa. The Shepherds need at least one evening to relax. Everyone's growing ragged, and an overnight stop in a village won't hurt us." The tight noise in the back of Chrom's voice showed he wanted to argue, but was running out of options. Lissa picked out the distressed look on Chrom's face and pounced on it.

"Or. If you really don't want to stay, we could ask Frederick if he has any more ideas on how to boost morale." Lissa favored her brother with the smuggest grin Robin had seen to date. And it only grew wider as Chrom went red in the face. "I'm SURE he can get a few more posters-"

"Alright, ALRIGHT! We can stop for the night! Just not a word of that... gods, what was the man thinking!?" Lissa kept her eyes on Chrom. Because of that, she thankfully didn't see the blush growing on Robin's face. Robin kept her cover and her composure by turning towards the inn and stammering something about helping with the arrangements.

-o-o-o-

Chrom stretched his feet out in the common room, telling his shoulders that they could finally unwind for just an evening. His muscles and his heart both refused to listen to him.

 _'We're wasting time here,'_ his thoughts hissed at him. His heart pounded against his chest like a caged animal.

The thrum from his pulse almost rivaled the noise of the common room. Almost. Robin was right in her initial estimation; the inn COULD just manage rooms for the Shepherds. They also managed to fill up the common room, both in space and sound. The clatter of dinnerware and voices competed easily with the roaring fire in the hearth and noises of the kitchen.

"Easy, brother. Try not to scowl so much. You're going to scare off the rest of the customers." Lissa whispered in his ear, walking past him with a full plate before taking a seat near the end of the table. Chrom obeyed her half way, transferring his glare to the slice of bread, cheese, and dry cured ham sitting on his plate. Then to give himself something more to do, he tore into the meal.

The food didn't have any right to taste that good, or melt in his mouth the way it did, but he still found himself eating. It dulled the grumbling in his stomach, and Chrom tried to listen in as he attacked the bread.

"Pay no mind to the wolf pack, good sirs." Maribelle's voice drifted in. Chrom caught her sitting next to Lissa in the corner of his vision. The two girls had their focus on a handful of travelers across the table... and those travelers were also giving Chrom an uneasy look, likely thanks to his table manners.

"Yeah, they just haven't had anything BUT rations for days." Lissa added as Chrom rushed to finish his meal and sit up straighter. "Besides, have you tried the bread they've got here? It's nice and fresh and- no? C'mon then, sit down!"

The Shepherds might have even crowded out the handful of merchants and travelers, save for Lissa and Maribelle all but demanding they share the tables with the Shepherds. To his left Robin let out her breath and Chrom mirrored it. Gods bless those two for knowing how to cajole and coax people into good company. They didn't need a grudging populace on top of a nervous one.

"Maybe... maybe stopping wasn't such a bad idea." He finally allowed.

"And it's nice to see people in prosperity, right?" Stahl sat across from Chrom and polished off his second plate.

"It's... a nice change up, I admit." Chrom found his voice softening up. "Provided we don't forget we need to-"

"Pretty sure we won't." Lissa chimed in. "We just- HEY!"

Chrom's eyes fell on the music case one of the travelers. Lissa bent her attention on the traveler, cajoling him for a song. Stahl joined in the discussion, likely looking for a chance to rest his voice for the night.

With a sigh Chrom left them to it. Knowing Lissa and Stahl, they'd manage to coax a tune out of the musician. He just hoped it would be something calming to help them all settle.

The musician ran his fingers along a harp pulled from its case, twining out something similar to what Stahl usually sang. But this had a strange, almost melancholy note to it. The song filled up the air of the inn, stilling most of the conversation and seeping into Chrom's hearing.

"Well, that's a new one." Anna murmured from her corner of the table. Chrom found himself trying to focus more on her words instead of the song. The harp strings set his ears to humming, and made them go uncomfortably hot.

"You're kidding. You know stories like that too?" Robin's voice was thick with disbelief, and some of it must have shown up on her face with how Anna laughed.

"Of course I know them; I'm a merchant!" Anna's voice dropped a little lower to keep from crowding out the song. "We hear all sorts of things, given how much we travel. You frequent enough inns and festivals as I have, and you're bound to soak up some local culture. Plus I'm also one of the best traveled in my family... best memory too, and not just how good the haggling is in a given territory."

The musician finished the opening chords while Anna spoke, and launched into his lyrics. Chrom picked out something about places far away and where night faded into day, and crystals of some sort. A prickle moved along his neck and pushed tension into his shoulders. The food in his mouth lost its flavor, and it felt like swallowing ash.

By contrast, the noises of the room crashed against his hearing. The scrape of forks, the thrum of the harp strings and singer's voice all stuck like knives in his ears. He could even hear Robin pull in a shuddering breath next to him. Anna added to the noise with an odd humming noise in the back of her throat.

"Actually, I've heard this one before. But just once." She whispered. "I was at an inn in Ferox, with a few sell swords. One of them was humming it. The inn's local singer hounded him for the lyrics when she heard it."

"...Sell sword?" The word slipped out between Chrom's teeth before he could think. The tension turned to throbbing pain in one of his shoulders, accompanied by a headache settling in around his temples. In the edges of his vision Chrom wondered if Robin was rubbing at her head too.

"Yeah. Pretty dour, even for a mercenary. Had a surprisingly fine singing voice. And I bet he'd be quite the looker if he ever took off that mask he wore-"

The walls of the room pressed in too tight. The ceiling felt like it could crush him if the press of bodies and heat didn't suffocate him first. Too hot, too loud, too _close._

He couldn't push his way out fast enough. Lissa's indignant squawk did nothing to slow him. Vaike shouted something, but Chrom shrugged it off and shouldered his way through the room.

"I need to go outside." He grumbled, stopping Frederick before the knight could stand. The next step took him out the door. The noise of the inn fell away and Chrom tossed his head back to take in deep breaths, letting the cool night air wash over him. Blue from the night sky flooded his vision and dulled the pounding of his blood.

"...Chrom?" Robin's voice pulled his head back down, showing her standing in the doorway. Golden light spilled over her shoulders and picked out highlights in the purple thread of her robes.

She took one step closer with eyes fixed on him. The cautious scrunch in her eyebrows made it look like she was testing him, making sure he wouldn't bolt if she approached.

"I-" he started to say, only for Robin to hold up a hand.

"Something about the song got to you, didn't it? You were doing fine before then." He ducked his head in a half nod, embarrassment flushing into his face. He'd been walking on eggshells for most of the evening. But that simple melody had somehow snapped his patience.

 _'What's wrong with me? It was just a song.'_

"That obvious?" He managed around a dry throat.

"...Mostly." When he glanced up, Robin wasn't meeting his eyes. "I told Lissa I'd make sure you stayed nearby, and that I needed to get some fresh air too."

She wasn't lying over that last bit. A closer look at Robin showed how stiffly she held her head. Her hands were balled into fists and just peeked out from the edge of her sleeves. A shudder tried to latch onto her right hand and her jaw tightened while she tried to keep it in check.

"It got to you as well?" At her nod, Chrom hooked his thumb over his shoulder and away from the inn. "Like you said, we could both use a walk to relax."

"I take it this isn't a common song." Robin said, matching his steps and leaving the noise of the inn behind. Chrom led her over to a fence running along the road and leaned against one of the crossbeams as a crude seat.

"Not anymore common than masked men. Somehow I'm not surprised that Marth is a good singer too." He rolled his eyes while he spoke. Robin's breath came out in a snort, and she added,

 _"_ Why not. It makes about as much sense as the rest of him." Robin joined him in leaning back against the fence. Her fingers drummed nervously against the wood. "Chrom... excuse me for asking, and I know this isn't the best time-"

"It's not exactly a bad time either. And I need to focus on something new." Robin nodded a little, taking a breath before she continued.

"Well... that song and Marth got me thinking back to Ferox. And about the dragons." Her hand moved up to tap her forehead. Frustration creased her features. "I've combed what little I can remember, but I can't recall or figure it out. How DID they end up so rare?"

"No one knows for certain. There's tales..." Chrom rolled his shoulders in a shrug. The pain in them finally subsided thanks to the night air. Plus with Robin's question, he had something else to focus on that wasn't a strange song. "Stories from Marth's time, passed down through bards and story tellers. Xane's stories have always been the most popular."

Chrom shrugged at the end of that. He knew only the name, and the stories attributed to the man. It felt like precious little, just then.

"Up for telling one?" The curious look she gave Chrom coaxed him on.

"Well, I'm no bard, but..." He cleared his throat, leaned back a little further against the fence, and gazed up at the stars.

"Long ago, the race of dragons ruled as kings." The memories of hearing the stories in the castle trickled back to him. Reciting, he could almost imagine Emm and Lissa on either side of him.

"And yet, a madness persisted in their blood. Being a creature of raw power was straining, even for them. It plagued their race until one of the wisest of their kind found a solution. Since the dragons could no longer safely control their forms, they would walk as men and women in the world. And it worked; the madness diminished. To be humans may have given them distance from their power, or sealed it off." Robin gave a soft hum, attentive and encouraging.

"Soon they spent more time as humans, calling only upon their powers when needed. But there were also those who resisted the change. They would not let go of their pride and power... and so they were driven mad." Lissa had always grabbed for him around this part of the story. A half smile traced across his face at the memory, and his hand reached out to rest on something to help him ease further into the mood.

"Their madness consumed them, blurred out their definitions of self, and even their separate identities until they were fused into one being. One with resentment. Anger that those without wings or scales or the blessings of fire still had their fill of the world, while the being had none. It sought to plunge the world into the same madness, and its presence scarred the land... until the wise dragon intervened, with her own champion."

"The first Exalt?" Robin guessed.

"One and the same. She sealed the being away, before departing back to the heavens. And so the first Exalt became a king and champion to the people in the wise dragon's place... but they left us with this story."

He looked away from the stars, adding on. "Though I always took it as a warning against seeking power too greedily. It's the first time I've told or heard that one in years."

Grasping at something had helped with recounting all of that. Chrom turned to look at Robin and gauge her reaction-

And almost vaulted clear of the fence when he saw how close he'd leaned towards Robin. Their faces almost touched, and he glimpsed his hand resting on her shoulder. Robin started at the same instant she did, the situation crashing in around them both.

"A-ah! Ah- I mean, a good story. Y-yes. That was a good story." It took Robin a record breaking five breaths and five squeaks in her words to get her composure back together.

"Y-yeah. Well, glad you... glad you liked it." Not that his own voice was any steadier.

Before an awkward silence could stretch out between them, Robin gave a loud and theatric yawn. Chrom found himself returning it. His jaw gave a slight pop, and something in his head shifted and drained any left over frustration out of his mind.

Though as a side effect his cheeks kept trying to go red for some reason.

"Well the night is-" Robin started to say.

"Late. Yes. Absolutely, very late. And we should get some sleep if we plan to be back on the road!" Chrom rushed to finish the thought for her, while Robin nodded along with almost too much enthusiasm.

They almost got stuck in the doorway, in their rush to get back inside and away from... from whatever _that_ was.

-o-o-o-

Robin stared up at the inn ceiling. Over a month gone by, and she hadn't been able to shake a problem she'd picked up early on.

She'd been trying to push the bathing incident out of her head, and just forget about everything that happened. She'd also almost, _almost_ succeeded. Like Chrom said, they didn't need to talk about it anymore.

 _'Just a weird secret we can keep to ourselves.'_

Robin's lips quirked up. He was oddly sweet about that. Maybe he didn't mean to give her that memory, but it was something she could hold onto... except when it was keeping her up at night.

 _'This is ridiculous.'_ She thought, turning onto her stomach. _'Completely ridiculous. He's just another Shepherd. A well toned, strong looking- GODS DAMMIT.'_

She might have forgotten all about glimpsing him like that, if a certain knight hadn't decided the camp could do with more morale. And the best way to raise it was with some very... stirring and provocative posters of their commander. She'd found the poster on her tent canvas and had gotten a good look at it right before Chrom had rushed by, shouting at her not to look and ignore that it had ever happened.

 _'...Trying to forget seems to be a common theme with us.'_ Between that bathing mishap and Frederick's damn posters there hadn't been much left to the imagination.

Then there had been... other things. Such as the way he smiled and how he went hushed in their conversations, like he was letting her in on more secrets. Or how much she missed all that with the new campaign they were on. He'd been so grim up until tonight. Then she'd finally caught a glimmer of the old him.

Plus a blush on his face she hadn't seen since the bathing incident.

"Fine." Robin groaned and rolled up, staring back the ceiling. "He's... nice on the eyes. I admit it."

Out loud and to herself, if no one else. She hoped that would be enough, and that her brain would leave her alone.

Even with the promise of visiting Ylisstol tomorrow, sleep ended up being a long time in coming.

-o-o-o-

The palace doors crashed shut behind Chrom. He stalked down the hallway and kept the audience hall at his back, never once looking behind him. Anger scalded his face and ears, while his words rang in his head.

 _"They're BLEEDING us, Emm! Why can't you understand that they need to answer for this!? We've been lucky, just barely lucky to keep arriving on time and keeping our people alive! How long do you think we'll hold out!?"_ Chrom hunched his shoulders and ducked his head. The red in his face darkened. _"And now you're telling us Plegia demands the Emblem itself for peace? Don't let them step all over us like this!"_

How many years had it been since he'd raised his voice at his sister? Her own reply had been quiet and acted like a splash of cold water to his face and mind.

 _"Chrom... we cannot strike until all options have been exhausted. I won't repeat the same mistakes of the past."_

He'd flinched and dipped his head at those words. Somehow he'd managed to mutter out an apology, and then excuse himself.

 _'She's right. Damn all of it, but she's right.'_ Fatigue washed over him, chasing out the last of his anger. His steps grew heavier, but didn't halt. Just then he had a sudden need to have open sky over his head again.

"Chrom...?" A familiar voice reached his ears, thick with worry. He turned around to look at Robin, trailing after him. If she saw how flushed his face was than she didn't comment on it. "I'm sorry, but I overheard some of what happened between you and Emmeryn. Are you alright?"

Chrom forced himself to take a deep breath before trusting himself to speak.

"Not entirely... but I'm working on it. I think I need some place to think and cool my head. Again." He paused, looking at her before cautiously adding "...Walk with me?"

He felt the tiniest bit better when she gave a nod. Damned if he could explain WHY that kept helping, but it did. Robin fell in, one step behind him. At first she said nothing, and her steps had a slight, unsure stutter to them. Trying and failing to read the situation, Chrom knew.

 _'You also know how to fix her understanding.'_

"Robin? There's something you should know about what was said... or maybe what wasn't said." The words were bitter, but he forced them out. Robin moved a little closer to him and watched his expression go dark. For an instant he saw her fingers give a twitch. As though they wanted to reach for something... but then she clasped her hands in front of her as they rounded a corner.

Ahead lay a sheltered garden courtyard. The halls opened directly into the green lawns and scattered flowers. A single tree stretched up into the sky, its reaching branches mirrored by stone arches set high into the halls. Curtains hung in the still night air. Unused but ready to close and protect the hall decorations from ill weather. Robin glanced at the art dotting the walls, while Chrom continued walking until they stopped in front of one painting in particular.

He let Robin look up at it. Chrom kept his silence as she gazed on the portrait and focused on taking deep breaths.

Robin's eyes narrowed over the blue hair in the painting, silently comparing it to Chrom's. She paused over the stern face underneath the bangs; not even the most skilled painter could put warmth into the subject's gaze. His cold blue eyes pierced through the viewer with a harsh, steely resolve.

"This is-?"

"The previous Exalt. My father." Chrom looked up at the painting, scowling at the subject like it could give him answers to what he faced... but chose not to. A familiar unease coiled up in his throat, and he forced his words out.

"His name was Duran and he... was not the same ruler as my sister. He died fifteen years ago, and it's taken most of that time to undo a lot of his legacy." Suddenly he couldn't meet the dead man's gaze and instead stared at the hall's floor. Under the painted blue eyes, his throat turned traitor on him and closed off the rest of Chrom's story.

"A very driven man, if nothing else." Came a new voice. Chrom twisted around to see Frederick standing on the other end of the hall. "My pardons if I'm intruding. I just finished my rounds of the castle and was preparing to turn in for the night."

"...Frederick, you don't need to push yourself so much." Chrom surprised himself with a laugh growing at the back of his throat. A strained one, but still a laugh. But it didn't last for long. The sound died when Frederick looked at him, a tired emotion dulling the knight's eyes.

"It seems a fortunate thing I do push myself, all told. You were just telling milady Robin about the prior Exalt, weren't you?" 'And I know this isn't an easy subject to bring up.' His voice said. Frederick moved a little closer, giving Robin a friendly nod; a massive step up from when he'd first met her in Chrom's view.

"...Yes. Frederick, forgive me speaking ill of the dead but..." Chrom shut his eyes and let the words rush out, before his voice could go tight and nervous again. "He was a violent man. He drove us into war with Plegia and never let up. He claimed it was a holy crusade against heretics."

"...Heretics? Why?" Robin's voice echoed in his ears. He looked back at her, not bothering to mask the resentment twisting his lips into a frown.

"Plegia didn't worship Naga, and in Duran's eyes that made them corrupt and tainted. He didn't care how high the casualties grew... how many of our own people he was marching to away from their farms and homes and to their death. His own citizens cursed his name and called him a murderer and a tyrant." Chrom looked between Robin, Frederick, and the painting. It seemed like there was a particular harshness to the man in it. Almost like he heard his son speak ill of him and was passing judgment on him. "I used to think they were all lying, and he couldn't be anything like that. I learned how wrong I was once he died and left Emm to clean up the mess."

"...Hard words, but true ones." Frederick spoke up. The knight shook his head, and must have seen the pain in Chrom's eyes as he took up the tale. "Milord, I... should remind you. At the time your father went to war with Plegia, I was a squire. You might remember parts of the war as told through reports and messengers. I remember most all of it, and time spent on the front lines."

A haunted look crossed Frederick's face. Chrom remembered the spear his knight carried, and how it was a gift; or perhaps a condolence of sorts, that Frederick had lived when so many others had died. Frederick glanced away from Chrom, eyes on Robin as the knight explained.

"He refused to burn the dead, you know. It has been rooted in Ylissean custom since the time of the first Exalt, yet when he crossed into the deserts where fuel became rare, he forwent the last rites. It didn't help when he discovered Plegia had a similar ritual; he wanted no common ground between his kingdom and his enemies. So instead, he settled upon mass graves." Robin was staring at him too, frozen in shock over how level his voice was. "That may be where many of the Risen have been coming from, unfortunately. Dead soldiers make for good, already armed fodder."

His tone was cold, almost clinical. Like he was recounting a report and keeping his distance as he recited.

"Frederick..." Robin murmured. She shook her head at the words, before raising her head and squarely fixing the knight in her sights; a determined look pinched her eyebrows together.

"It's in the past. I swore a vow to serve the Exalts... and I am more than happy to serve the current ones." Frederick didn't miss the decisive glint in her eyes. Chrom still wondered over what it meant, when Frederick continued. "Now you know more of the Halidom's history... but going by your gaze, am I correct in guessing this changes very little?"

"It... it doesn't change anything." Robin's whispered. She kept her head raised and took a step closer to Chrom. "It wasn't the past Exalt who found me in that field... it was Chrom. And I'll gladly fight by his side."

Chrom felt something warm in his chest at the words, and his hand twitched for a moment. He wanted to move just that little bit closer to her, if not for the fact Frederick was watching them both. The knight seemed to notice how Chrom wavered, and take some amusement from it.

"Well spoken, milady. I may have misjudged you." An oddly cheerful note had worked its way into Frederick's voice. "And I see my caution in Chrom may have been misplaced. He appears to be well recovered now, one small outburst notwithstanding."

"...Frederick." Chrom groaned. "There's no need to constantly hover over me like that. I think I've proven myself in a fight plenty of times."

"Aye. And that is what worries me." Frederick instantly snuffed the cheer out of his words. He looked over Chrom again from head to toe, trying to find something. "Milord. I don't doubt your capability as a fighter, and yet your progress is... frightening, in a way. You've become much stronger, in a shorter amount of time than I could anticipate. But... perhaps I worry too much over what seems to be a blessing. Its kept you alive in situations that would have killed even the past Exalt."

Frederick's eyes went back up to the painting. Chrom followed them. He found himself pausing over the depiction of his father's brand, laid clearly across the man's neck. Frederick sighed out, shaking his head.

"...Though I never could understand the liberties painters take with their subjects. Mayhap your father was just unwilling to show weakness, even in portraits."

"I-I'm sorry, I feel like I'm missing something here." Robin spoke up from Chrom's side. She tilted her head as she looked over the painting.

"A mutual feeling." Chrom frowned as he glanced between the portrait and Frederick. The knight blinked over the confusion his comment caused.

"Hm? Oh, I was speaking about his scar." Chrom froze from the comment. Something cold tried to move into his blood before he banished the feeling by shaking his head.

"Frederick, I don't remember my father getting a scar."

"All pardons aside milord, you were also a young boy at the time. I was entering my teens. I remember very clearly, and was even there when he took the cut. He'd asked the knight I was serving to accompany him to see to the fortifications along the border." Frederick slid his eyes shut, recounting the events.

"It was an ambush intent on taking the Exalt's life. Well armed, with assassins and dark mages. The man I served was one of the first cut down when they fell in around us." Wrinkles formed at the corners of Frederick's eyes and lips from the memory. Yet he continued. "They refused to be routed, even when we retaliated and began to push them back. They were intent on killing the Exalt and nothing else. And they came close to it. One of their mages landed a glancing blow..."

Frederick traced his fingers in a diagonal line across his throat, right where the brand was on the painting. "An inch or two either way and they would have killed him. Instead they succeeded in knocking him from his horse and left him bleeding for the rest of the fight. And... instilling a certain sense of conquest in him. I don't think I exaggerate that a change swept over him, having come so close to death. He was more driven, more determined to kill and conquer than ever before."

Chrom's eyes drifted back to the painting and he found himself thinking back.

"He... did seem to grow worse, the few times he visited home." He could hear a roar in the back of his head thanks to the memories. His father may have been dead for years, but Chrom could remember his voice; one raised in anger or remaining curt with him. That voice combined with a looming, towering presence that never felt satisfied to be at home with his children when there was a war to fight.

He'd never been struck by his father, but sometimes the words were enough. Words and a voice that said he still wasn't ready to carry the mantel of Exalt, that he lacked the drive to finish the work his father had begun. Chrom shook his head to banish the memories. In a way he was almost glad the war claimed so much of his father's time.

Looking at the painting he wondered. His father HAD kept his brand mostly covered by a high collar and cape whenever he came to visit them. Perhaps there had been the scars of an old war wound there, and his father never wanted to show such weakness in court.

"Indeed. He went on for several more years, until he died on the battlefield. THAT occasion, I wasn't there for. The knights there were slaughtered almost to a man, and he continued to drive them and himself forward, refusing to see that the battle was lost." Chrom's mind tried to paint the scene, only for a different, but equally violent memory to flicker up.

"Yes..." Chrom spoke up. "Well, after that, Emmeryn ascended to the throne. The people showed very little love for her, thanks to the legacy she directly inherited. Some even went as far as flinging stones at her, when she went out into their crowds to try and mend the wounds from the war. SHE still carries a scar from it; that I do remember."

He tore his gaze away from the painting. Anymore dwelling on the past and he'd be tempted to rip the thing free of the frame.

"I don't know how she can still voice peace after all that... Not that I think it's folly, but because I can't imagine doing so myself. That's why I'm glad for her, that it's her on the throne instead of me. I want to only command soldiers; that's what I trust myself to do."

"Milord," Frederick began, but quieted as Robin spoke up.

"Chrom... I don't know what it could be like. I can't imagine it. But I can imagine myself following you. Maybe it's just because I do so already, but..."

Her words cut out, and her hands took up conveying the thought instead. Five soft, warm points tickled against the skin of his arm. Her touch was still tentative, still shy when it came to contact.

 _'After what she saw with that bath incident, can you blame her?'_ The thought irreverently whispered.

"Thank you," he still managed, pushing those awkward memories out and looking at her hand. He meant every word, few as they were. "Believe it or not, I feel a little better-"

A cough interrupted him, and he looked up to see Frederick had taken a sudden interest in the ceiling.

"Well... I don't know if I helped or hindered this conversation, but it occurred to me that there are a few portions of the halls I should still check. If you will excuse me, I'll be on my way." He turned on his heel at that, leaving Chrom behind to sputter over his words.

"I, ah- I meant it. Thanks." Robin ducked her head at that, and murmured something that could have been 'don't mention it.'

"Robin, about following me into battle... what if that takes us into Plegia?" His eyes fell on the sleeve of her robe. The arm underneath it stirred, and she stared down at the pattern. "I don't want you to feel pained over that decision... if that makes any sense."

Robin hummed in response to his words, still looking at where her sleeve brushed against his arm from the night breeze.

"I... I'm afraid I know nothing about this robe, or why I still wear it. I just like to keep this around. It feels comfortable." He wouldn't say so out loud, but it also felt comfortable against his arm just then. "My words and convictions are the same, Chrom. Maybe I was Plegian at some point... but now, I'm a Shepherd."

"You're also brave," the words slipped out, and Chrom rushed to follow them up with something else. "Wh-what I meant to say is we might need that. You being brave. And a Shepherd..."

He let his breath hiss out between his teeth. "Let me try again... much as I want peace, if the time comes for war, I won't hesitate for it."

"Well said." At those words he finally did jump back, and so did Robin. For good reason; recognition of that voice made their heads both snap up. He spun around and followed Robin's sight.

A familiar figure had found his way into the courtyard. The swordsman watched them through his mask. Falchion's twin hung at his side, and he kept one hand resting on the hilt.

"Marth? How did you-?"

"Hole in the stone walls, almost invisible and just big enough for someone to slip through." Damn, he'd hoped no one would ever find the remains of that training accident.

"But I am not here to explain myself. I'm here to warn you that Emmeryn needs a defender, NOW. And you need to act fast if you want to keep her from death."


	12. Seer

**Chapter 12: Seer**

The Exalt's castle was a quiet place that night, with just her own shuffling footsteps to keep her company. Three stumbles later Sumia was ready to call it a night and go back to her books. If she couldn't find Robin in the next set of rooms and pass a new book to her, she was ready to turn around and do just that.

She put her hands on a door to the next hall and pushed. Robin wasn't behind that doorway either. But her eyes DID fall on a familiar figure standing at a window.

"Frederick? Still up this late?" Sumia took the risk of quickening her step as she spoke. To her surprise she managed to not fall flat on her face as she approached him. The sight of the knight put a little more cheer in her, made her stand up a little straighter.

He could be aloof at times, but was sincere enough with helping out. That gave them at least a little common ground, Sumia liked to think. But just then, he only half turned to her and kept his eyes on the sky.

"Mmm." Was his answer. Sumia paused in her steps, and noted how the moonlight made his face look unusually stark. "Trying to outpace old ghosts, I'm afraid. Doing so has a way of keeping one up and awake."

"Oh..." she wondered over the haunted look. The man didn't always look like the veteran of a war he'd been too young for; but just then, she could see the specter lodged into the lines around his eyes.

It wouldn't be seen as rude if she just left him to those past phantoms. She could easily turn around now and let him wrestle with them.

Instead she stood her ground. Then did one better by taking another step closer to Frederick.

"Well... do ghosts make for better company than a person?" Her words pulled his eyes all the way to her face.

"No, actually. They tend to make poorer company, particularly when matched against you." Heat across her cheeks told Sumia she going a little pink in the face at that. Frederick had a dusting of the color on his own face. "My apologies, that may have been too forward of me. Still..."

He trailed off, looking oddly self conscious when he glanced at the book in her hands. Sumia looked down at it as well.

"Oh... I was just looking for Robin so I could give her this book. It's one of my favorites, so I was hoping she'd like it too."

"I last saw her with milord," Frederick answered, pushing a pause into Sumia's pulse. Her stomach did a quick dip, as did her heart... though that feeling had a hard time holding up against the knight in front of her. The discomfort didn't ache as much as she feared while she watched Frederick. He still looked hurt, worse than that brief stab that went through her.

"Well... I think it wouldn't hurt to give them breathing room." Sumia said at last. Then another thought occurred to her. A slightly odd one, but she found herself voicing it anyway. "Maybe... maybe I could read this book to you? I don't know if you'd be interested in this type of story, but-"

The way he brightened up made it seem less and less like a weird idea.

"Sumia... I mean, milady. At the moment, that sounds like a perfect idea. I would-" Frederick stopped short, his head snapping up at something. The next instant he dashed forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. Before Sumia had the chance to sputter, he yanked her to the side. Something made of steel rasped against bricks, right where her head had been.

Sumia didn't think just then. She just lashed out with her book. The thick doorstopper had plenty of heft, and she was suddenly very glad she had a taste for dense books with heavy binding; they did wonders when slammed into someone's face. The attacker crumbled from the force of the book, completely unconscious.

"Assassins?" Sumia had the presence of mind to gasp out. A second later she saw a shimmering light from outside. Her mind identified it as a teleportation spell. A large one going by the pulse.

"Aye. Led a mage from the looks of it, and a powerful one at that." Frederick growled out. He glared at the afterglow of the spell. "We must make haste and defend the Exalt and her kin. We aren't far from the barracks, and I hope others noticed the spell..."

That haunted look almost found a way back into his face, before Sumia spoke up. "They'll be fine, Frederick. If you taught ME how to fight they can manage this."

Frederick himself chased away the last of those past shadows as he nodded to her. Instead of dwelling on his thoughts, Frederick let go of one shoulder, and steered her towards the stables where they could arm themselves.

"Oh..." Frederick added as they dashed off. "And by the by, that was well struck with that book."

They raced through the halls, and were about to settle into a full on bolt when a flicker of motion from outside caught both of their eyes.

Frederick stopped at another window, staring out into the courtyard. Sumia followed his gaze just in time to pick out three figures; Chrom and Robin, standing together and staring at the sword drawn by...

"Marth?" That had to be the Marth she'd heard so much about. For a terrifying moment she thought they were about to clash again, just like in the arena. But instead Marth twisted on his heel towards the gardens, then threw his sword up and leapt clear into the air.

Marth's cape fluttered out and he soared as though he had wings. A stone's throw from where Marth had stood a new figure broke from the bushes and raced forward. Sumia sucked her breath in the same time Frederick did; the intruder was clad in the same robes as the man Sumia had knocked out. But Marth moved perfectly, easily leaping clear of the sword swipe before dropping back down and delivering a vicious cut.

He certainly fought like the hero king, Sumia thought in wonder. It also looked like he was back to being on their side.

She saw another assassin jump clear of the gardens on Marth's blindside. It wouldn't do any good, but she still cried "look out!"

Of all things, the swordsman stumbled on the first assassin's sword. Sumia almost averted her eyes when a cut sliced at his face. But the sword didn't strike flesh. Instead it parted the mask on Marth's face. The two pieces fell like dark leaves, and Chrom lunged forward and tore down the other fighter.

Sumia sighed out in relief... and then stared as she got a second look at Marth.

"...I didn't know Marth was a girl." She said, boggling at the revealed features and the long hair spilling down her back.

"It's unexpected news to me as well." Frederick managed, before shaking his head and turning away. "But we need to make haste. The Exalt's chambers should be just ahead-"

This time it was her turn to grab Frederick by the shoulders as he opened a door. Through the crack of an opening Sumia glimpsed a fireball shooting down the hallway at them. She didn't exactly strong arm him out of the fire's path; more like she shoved him, fell down, and carried him the rest of the way. But they fell out of the firing line, and the fireball thundered into the walls with an explosion that shook the entire palace.

-o-o-o-

Her footsteps clicked through the halls. Two more sets echoed behind her. Chrom and Robin already ran in synch as they raced towards Exalt Emmeryn. The breeze from their passing pushed her hair out back, and brushed over the newly exposed skin on her face.

She'd left her shattered mask behind, but not the name Marth. Neither Chrom or Robin had noticed the mark in her eye, for which Marth whispered thanks. She also prayed that she could cling to that last bit of masquerade for as long as she could.

Then maybe, just maybe if the gods were truly with her, she'd be able to alter this key point. Keep the walls they were racing past standing and unburned, and the people that belonged there alive.

Her eyes kept wanting to slide back to Chrom and Robin, to linger on them and make sure they were alright.

 _'Folly. You KNOW they're fine, you just saved them! Keep your eyes on what's coming!'_ She scolded herself, squeezing her eyes shut and forcing herself to look forward.

When she opened them, she saw someone looming ahead. The stranger had his back to them, while his red robes stirred in heated air that ill suited the cool stone walls. It was someone who didn't belong there. The skull headdress and fire in his hand were just more proof of that. Marth moved fast, driving the sword between the spellcaster's ribs. He died before he could fire off another spell.

One more assassin dead. Gods only knew how many there were to go. Her hands tightened around the blade to pull it free.

Falchion gave a faint glimmer, halting the motion midway. Marth stared down at the blade. A pale blue flicker of light rested in the teardrop cross section; tiny, but it gave an extra bit of light to the darkened hallway.

 _'This is it, then.'_ Falchion's shimmer made it clear she stood at the crossroads. _'We change fate here.'_

"FREDERICK!" Chrom yelled out, yanking Marth's eyes back up.

With the immediate danger gone she took in the passage they were in. They'd found themselves in a long hallway just outside the Exalt's chambers. A knight stood in the corridor with another woman close by, helping him along. In second Marth had a name to put with the face; Sumia.

"A little singed milord, but none the worse for wear." Frederick answered mildly enough. For a moment Marth wondered at the grateful look that passed between him and Sumia.

"There you are!" Vaike's shout was easy to identify and could carry to the other side of the castle. He ran up behind Robin and Chrom with his axe at the ready. "We couldn't find you, and your damn sister nearly ran into some of the jerks prowling the castle!"

"I didn't run into them, I ran PAST them!" Lissa shot back, moving with Vaike to the front of the group. Just behind Lissa, Lucina picked out a stoic and dark haired swordsman cleaning his blade from messy work. He paused for a moment, met her eyes, and Marth saw a flicker of recognition flash through them.

...In a way she was glad for the attack. It saved her A LOT of awkward explaining. Behind the swordsman came the lady Maribelle, already on her horse and leading two others. The animals swiftly broke from her and galloped to Frederick and Sumia's side.

Marth found herself thanking whichever architect that decided to build wide hallways. As it was, she still had to dodge out of the way as the animals rushed to their people.

"You're all-?" Chrom finally managed to find words.

"Quite alright, quite alright." Maribelle assured Chrom. "Lissa and I were visiting near the stables, when those two creatures went wild and tried to kick down the stable doors. We heard the explosion a moment later, and met up with the other Shepherds along the way."

"All well, but... how did you make your way here?" Frederick wondered aloud as he checked the Shepherds for injuries. "Sumia and I were hard pressed."

"We... um... followed a rabbit?" Lissa offered, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"A WHAT?" Sumia blurted out.

"The woman tells the truth." The swordsman, Lon'qu added. "There was a beast prowling the grounds, and we followed it through to a safe passage. She may still be about-"

"I-I know her." Marth felt the words tumble out. "Panne. Her name is Panne. Chrom, you don't have to worry about her. She's a friend. Or will be a friend if you don't raise steel against her."

Gods, but she knew how strange she must have sounded. Even odder than Lissa and Lonqu's claims, odds were. She wanted to lock gazes with Chrom, to plead for him to listen to her... but she also couldn't risk him looking too closely at her eyes.

"She... hasn't led us astray so far, Chrom." Robin spoke up for her, and Chrom gave a slow nod. "And right now we need to arm ourselves for the fight. It sounds like Lissa and the others got in just before the main force. We'll be able to avoid a bottle neck and set up a good defense, if we arrange fighters on either side of this room."

"I'll guard Emmeryn." Marth heard herself promise. "They'll have to kill me before they get past."

"Then we have our battle plan, quick and rushed as it is. Chrom, Lissa, warn Emmeryn so she at least knows what is going on. Then go to your posts." Robin spoke, and began pointing the Shepherds to either side of the halls and to take up positions against the oncoming foe.

-o-o-o-

Robin tightened her grip on the spell book. Her hand remained too raw to try holding a sword, but could grip the thunder tome well enough.

 _'El T_ _hunder.'_ Even the name crackled with power, buzzing in her skull. The sparks in the spell pages arced into her fingers, adding a small buzz of energy as her blood thrummed.

Black clung to the hallways ahead. Candle flames valiantly pushed against the night, but couldn't dispel the dark shrouds. On the edge of the shadows, Robin heard feet echoing on the tile and rugs.

"I want the Emblem in my hand, and the Exalt dead on the floor." Over that sound came a snapping voice, like needles in Robin's ears as it urged the intruders on.

"Stay steady. Don't rush in just yet." Robin whispered for the Shepherds nearby and for herself. Her feet wanted nothing more than to just fling herself forward and tear into whatever was on the edges of the palace. She fought to keep her breathing steady, and held her position.

The person beside her was just as anxious. With a start Robin picked out Chrom's blue hair. Tension kept his movements and the muscles in his arms wound tight. Falchion pointed into the shadows as Chrom stalked forward one pace.

"Chrom, please!" Behind them Emmeryn called from her chambers. "Flee while you can!"

Her words, meant to ease Chrom, only drew him tighter. His teeth showed for an instant, Emmeryn's protests still ringing in his ears.

"We each have one life, and I do not wish to see it laid against yours!" Chrom grimaced from her words.

"You ever think the same might be true for me?" He shot back. Robin found herself looking over her shoulder as well, giving the Exalt the briefest glance. Emmeryn had taken something from her chambers and held it close now, looking ready to hand it to Chrom if he'd only flee with it. Torch light caught along the rounded, golden edges of what Emmeryn clutched. Robin paused over the shape, wondering at the strange shield.

For just a moment, her blood stilled. Her thoughts began to focus-

Right as something moved out of the shadows, dark forms save for the glimmer of their steel blades.

Robin locked her eyes on the assassins and surged forward. She didn't strike alone, as Chrom knocked one blade aside and reversed Falchion back up into the would-be killer's throat. His target dropped with a gurgle. Chrom spun around to close with another. But Robin beat him to the strike, sending a bolt of lightning across steel and flesh. The target went shock still, and collapsed with a thud.

Robin didn't pause over the bodies, instead pushing forward. Her pulse spiked back to a hammering beat, and Robin's feet moved in a rhythm. She dodged, weaved between the blades of the assassins and kept an eye out for enemy spells.

Tonight her strength coursed through her. Her targets were so strangely slow, merely dull shades compared to the fire in her blood. It was nothing at all to dance between their strikes. In the back of her brain she wondered over how the same slowness effected the rest of the Shepherds. No one else could match her pace-

Save for Chrom. He was right beside her in the thick of battle, matching her step for step and stroke for spell. She spared him just one glimpse, long enough to wonder over how well they matched. But there were still so many killers to throw themselves against. No time for wondering any further.

Her spells reignited for the next wave. Her hand snapped forward, only to freeze when someone with orange hair gave a yelp and ducked underneath the lightning.

"Easy, easy! I'm not here for killing! Shinies would be nice, but not killing!" Robin just barely stayed her hand with a shudder. Her body wanted nothing more than to throw itself forward and keep fighting-

Another glimmer formed in the back of her mind, the same golden color as the shield. She forced herself to stay still, and the hammering of blood faded from her mind for just a moment. Looking over to Chrom, she saw the same was true for him. He'd actually done her one better, and was talking to the man.

 _'Not an assassin,'_ Robin finally realized. He lacked the dark colors, was missing the spikes on his arms for extra killing, but instead had the look of a thief.

Chrom helped the man to his feet and offered a bag of something. Robin picked out the thief say "sugar..." with absolute reverence. A second later when Chrom let the thief draw his blade, it clicked into place.

"...Did you really just bribe a thief to switch sides with candy?"

"Said his name was Gaius." Chrom answered. "Well, we've got one more for our cause. We need all the help we can get against these killers."

Robin nodded, and heard footsteps behind her. More fighters. This time her blood didn't pick up to the same fever pitch as she spun to meet them. But her spells still sprang up quickly, snapping out with an added bite of power. She and Chrom pushed their way down through the hallway, gaining more ground with each fight.

As the melee died around them Robin felt a surge of hope. They'd almost gained the garden courtyard and thrown the attackers back. Looking across the foyer showed the other Shepherds had punched through the line as well.

She even saw the thief across the way. He stepped up next to Miriel as she fired a spell and watched her back. Chrom may have made the right call after all. Gaius glimpsed her for a moment, and gave what she had to guess was a 'thanks for not killing me' wave, with how cheeky his smile was. He took another step forward.

"You..." a voice hissed out from somewhere just beyond Robin's vision. The words were seeped dark in menace. "Emmeryn's assassination was supposed to be an easy thing, if not for _**you**_ , turn coat."

The world lost some of its brightness as Robin listened. She tried to shout out a warning. Her throat choked on the words and they came out in a ragged croak.

Gaius turned too slowly and a blaze of fire caught him across the chest. The impact yanked his feet from the floor, hurling him back with a snap of cape cloth. Gaius smashed into one of the stone pillars, leaving a blackened mark as he slid to the tiles.

Silence hung over the courtyard and halls for just an instant. It broke with Lissa and Maribelle both rushing to his side. Robin held her breath as she watched, and only let it out when she saw that Gaius' lungs were still working after all that punishment.

Her brain was already calculating the angle of the attack. Robin spun on her heel, tracing the left over cinders in the air back to the source. Her eyes picked out a figure wreathed in robes like shadows, contrasting against the orange embers building along his fingers as he readied another spell.

"BACK OFF!" Robin shouted, throwing her hand out and blasting a bolt at him. The assassin cut his own attack short in response. He murmured something that set his black robes to flapping in a spell-fueled breeze.

Her attack spat sparks and crashed into a ripple of energy in the air.

 _'A counter spell. T_ _his isn't a rank and file mage.'_

The attacker stood behind the distortion, watching Robin's spell with a disinterested air and tracing it back to her. His blood red eyes met her own for an instant, holding on her face. The man's eyes narrowed, as a knowing smile creased his features.

"Oho... you. I KNOW you." His voice hissed, and the fire went out of Robin's blood. Her limbs went heavy. A chuckle rippled through the man's throat, like he was privy to some sort of joke. "Oh yes, I know you."

The air around him rippled again as he stepped forward.

"Submit to me, and perhaps I will honor you with the truth."

 _'He... knows?'_ Her thoughts feebly managed, as she stood trapped in his gaze. She suffocated under his focus and words, her mind plunging into icy waters that she couldn't swim against.

One thing pulsed and burned against that. Her hand ached, and Robin gladly latched onto the pain. She lifted her hand for another spell and threw it at him in defiance. It crashed against his shield, a bright golden glare as Robin narrowed her eyes and threw all her focus into it; anything to keep from falling back under that glare.

The spell barrier pulsed and shuddered. A strained noise built in Robin's throat as she threw her fear into the spell and let the pain in her hand burn along her entire arm. She swore there was a flash of purple light. The sorcerer might have seen the color too, with how his eyes widened.

 _'FALL!'_ Her thoughts howled, and the barrier cut out with a screeching noise. Robin sagged forward, her fingers growing numb. She'd ripped too much energy out and into that spell.

"Unexpected. You've grown into power... but still come up short." She thought there was a flicker of amusement and even pride in the sorcerer's features. Robin didn't know whether confusion or retching was strongest in her head just then. She was sinking back down under that gaze, going weak in thoughts and at the knees. And she couldn't _do_ anything against the man. Fire sparked at the sorcerer's fingertips.

"Get away from her!"

A figure blurred past her, the white cloak catching her sight. Chrom threw himself at the sorcerer, Falchion raised up. He twisted in midair, barely dodging a gout of fire singing past him. The flare of orange and red caught her eyes, as everything around Robin slowed to a crawl. The flames burned themselves into her vision, chasing out fatigue and terror both.

Her hand still felt like lead, but somehow she managed to lift her fingers up to the spell as it arced overhead. With her hand against the orange, the purple brand glimmered in sharp contrast.

Her fingers closed down on the air, and the spell shuddered to a brief, heartbeat of a halt. Warmth flooded her brain and burned back into her blood. Robin welcomed the blaze and made a wrenching motion. Like a restless horse on reins, the spell fought her. Robin tightened her fingers into a fist, the spell answering by slowly turning around.

Robin sent the spell speeding back towards the sorcerer. Ahead of her Chrom fell from his place in the air and slashed at the sorcerer as he dropped. The sword plunged into the man's collar bone and the red eyes widened from shock.

Chrom tensed from where he landed, his ears picking out the roar of flames. He twisted himself out of the way, ducking to the side.

The sorcerer was caught in the full blast of the flames. They wreathed him and he gasped out in disbelief. He stared as his form burned, like he couldn't quite grasp what was happening.

"No... this is... all wrong. How could you-?" His last words died on his lips, as he collapsed in a heap of ashes. Falchion clattered free in the motion and rested unmarked on the stones.

Robin's legs decided that then would be a good time to give out.

"Robin? ROBIN!" Chrom was at her side, holding her up so she didn't collapse fully onto the floor. "Are you okay? What happened-?"

"Did he... did he really know me?" Robin whispered out, still staring at the ashes. Chrom blinked at Robin before his hand tightened over hers.

"Stay with us, Robin." She shut her eyes for a moment, breathing deep. Her fingers clutched back at Chrom's, latching onto something solid and steady.

"He- he's dead, isn't he?" She found herself asking.

"...VERY. You saw to that."

"Then... then I'm alright." Robin forced the words out. "Or at least I'll be alright."

 _'Remember what you said in the courtyard.'_ The past didn't matter compared to where she was right now.

She had to believe it was , any answers the sorcerer had died with him. And Robin wasn't certain she wanted to know whatever he had to say.


	13. First Flight

**(A/N:Hey everyone! As a heads up, the next chapters may take longer than usual to get posted. I'm getting into scenes that require a lot of TLC to get the mood just right, and come coupled with a new job that demands a chunk of my** ** **h** ours. Hopefully the wait will be worth it when it's finally time, and as always thank you for reading.)**

 **Chapter 13: First Flight**

Chrom breathed more easily once Robin lifted her head. She eased herself up so she wasn't hunched over, and the trembling in her shoulders seeped out.

 _'So she wasn't hurt. Good.'_ Whatever effect that last assassin had on her, it was evaporating now. He still found it impossible to pry his hand from her, so he didn't bother. Chrom helped Robin to stand and checked his own limbs. The worst he had were a few nicks and cuts. Nothing life threatening. Or anything that prevented him from grabbing Falchion up. No heat coated the blade; it still easily stood up against the flames, living up to it's legend as one of Naga's fangs.

"Can you walk? I need to make sure Emm is okay. Marth too." Robin took a step forward at his words. Together, they made their way towards the chamber.

Chrom tried not to look too hard at the bodies they had to move past. These would need a pyre as well. The last thing they needed was a threat of Risen inside the palace. Though some of them were already half charred thanks to Robin's spells. Those that weren't had been neatly cleaved in two.

 _'Did we really do that much damage-?'_ Chrom started to wonder but pushed the thought from his head, along with any post-battle nausea. Emmeryn came first in his focus just then.

They found Emm and Marth in the room. Not a single assassin had set foot into the Exalt's chambers. Any that had somehow slipped past the defense and stepped too close were sliced up, and the blade that did the work was still in Marth's hands.

To Chrom's confusion the sell sword wasn't meeting Emm's gaze. Marth kept her eyes downcast and murmured that she did the right thing, nothing more. He picked out a new woman standing to the side, one he'd just glimpsed in the fighting. Back in human form, but with a pair of telltale long, rabbit-like ears.

 _'So that's Lissa's rabbit?'_ She looked far from being cute and fluffy; more like all tooth, claw, and whip chord muscle.

"Chrom, thank the gods you're well." Emmeryn spoke up. She then dropped all propriety by running over and wrapping him in a quick hug. "I meant what I said; I've no wish to weigh my life against yours."

"Well, if it helps it looks like you won't have to do that tonight." She stepped back at Chrom's words, still looking over him to make sure his wounds were minimal.

"Aye. Those scum would have taken milady's life and the Emblem both." Phila spoke up from where she guarded the door. Her presence told Chrom that the pegasus knights had secured the rest of the castle. "But thanks to you, their force was annihilated. It has been a long night, but hopefully we may rest easily now."

"Largely thanks to you two." Emmeryn was still watching Chrom, looking between him and Robin both. He wondered at the thoughts sparking behind her eyes but couldn't guess at what they were.

Something hummed in the back of Emm's throat while she watched him. In a second Chrom realized it was the tune he'd heard at the inn. Marth started over it, equal to Chrom in surprise that the song had found its way to the capital. Questions bubbled up in Chrom's mind over that, but Emmeryn cut them off with a look. A hard, decisive light settled in her eyes.

"Chrom, before anything else occurs... please take this." Emmeryn said, stretching her hands out to place a plain, cloth bag in his hands. His fingers grasped by reflex and felt something inside, spherical and with a decent heft. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he tilted the bag open.

A silver gem fell into his open hand. Its polished surface caught white lights, giving the gem an impossibly bright sheen.

"...Emm, this is from the Emblem!" His thoughts clicked hard into place and he nearly dropped the priceless royal treasure. Robin gasped at the same time he did. "You've said it yourself; there's no part of House Ylisse that matters more than the Emblem! I-I can't take-"

"You must." Emmeryn cut him off.

"You have as much right to the Emblem's protection as I do. If another situation occurs like tonight, and I cannot always keep you safe then..." Emmeryn picked her words carefully, and still giving him a strange look. Her eyes rested on his branded shoulder and narrowed over the scar. "Then I pray this might be able to help, somehow. So, please..."

Chrom found that he couldn't argue with his sister. Not with how exhausted she looked and how ragged he felt. Fatigued weighed on his limbs and pulled his head down. The motion turned into a nod, and Chrom put the gem back into the bag, tying it to his side. He told himself that he could always give it back to her later, when they weren't all about to pass out on their feet.

"I... I must take my leave now." Marth spoke up. She pulled her eyes from the bag to look at Chrom and Emmeryn. "I've carried out my appointed task."

Just like how his protests with Emmeryn went, somehow Chrom knew he couldn't stop Marth from leaving.

"As you say. But maybe someday I can repay the favor from this night." He felt Robin nod beside him... and for the briefest moment, Marth smiled at that.

"Perhaps," was all she said, before walking back out into the night. Leaving the rest of them to carry out a few rushed talks and plans on keeping Emmeryn safe, before deciding that everything could continue in the morning.

-o-o-o-

A thick fog coated wherever Robin found herself, dark enough that it sucked all the color out of her skin and clothing. The air was a heavy, choking gray-black miasma that swirled around her.

"I know you-" A voice cut into her hearing and Robin whirled around. Her eyes fell on a gut wrenchingly familiar figure, and her heart turned to ice. The assassin mage smirked down his nose at her, and Robin threw her hand up on instinct to block his spells and eyes.

One thing showed up bright against the gray mist; the mark on her hand glowed a searing violet. Robin closed her eyes against the glare. When she opened them and looked over her fingers, fire wreathed the killer. Flames swept over him again, bright orange against the gray space.

Or at least they burned orange for one moment. When the fire closed over the sorcerer's head, the color shifted into a hard purple light. Something too similar to the mark on her hand.

Too familiar to something just on the edge of her memory. Some distant nightmare plaguing her mind, tinged purple and filled with fire and dark tomb-like places.

 _'I don't want-'_ Robin desperately searched for calm, screwing her eyes shut and turning from the sight. After images of the burning sorcerer haunted her mind, always carrying the same smug, knowing smile.

 _'I don't want this! I don't want to see this...'_ The thought crawled across her mind, and dread turned her heart into a solid weight sinking deeper into her chest.

Robin didn't wait to watch him burn. Instead she spun around and ran. The purple flames teased at the corners of her vision, refusing to fade out. The fire itself didn't die with the sorcerer, instead spreading around Robin and cutting off her escape. She swore that after images of the burning sorcerer flickered through the inferno.

A fragment of blue showed between the tongues of flame. A faint outline that wasn't the assassin, but with his back to her. Even so, she could recognize the man's shape.

 _'Chrom!'_ She stretched her unmarked hand out to him... but no matter how she ran, she couldn't reach him. Her throat tightened, keeping her from calling out to him. The black mist grew thicker around her, almost suffocating and killing the flames. Through it, Chrom grew faint. He twisted around, his motions jerky and trying to evade something.

 _'Like he's fighting something off.'_ Robin tried to reach another hand out to him. For a moment the fire dimmed as she pushed through to him. The purple light barely warmed his skin, and just brushed at his side. He didn't lift his head to the touch, barely registering the contact.

"Chrom...? Chrom can't you-?" See her, or hear her; she wanted to ask both to his milky blank eyes. But the sentence died as Chrom's breath wheezed out in a choked gasp. He staggered away with his hands at his side, red streaming down between his fingers and impossibly bright. The air took on a choking copper taste.

Robin's hand still hung in the air, trying to touch him again. Her fingers flexed-

And she froze at the lines of red running over her hand, almost smothering her brand. The blood made the eye spots on her mark glow red and her stomach go sick.

 _'I didn't-'_

Chrom collapsed into the miasma, the flames and fog springing back up to coat him. For a heartbeat the fire glowed a bright blue and silver before it snuffed out.

Robin was left drifting in a void.

Alone.

It was like being caught in the sorcerer's gaze all over again, cold and deprived of air. She couldn't get a full breath. But plenty of air rushed past her ears and tugged her hair back, and she was dimly aware that she was falling deeper into the void. Her hand hung like a weight, dragging her down. The words of the sorcerer rang mockingly in her ears; if she'd only submitted, she'd know the truth.

Had she made the right choice? Robin tossed and tried to break herself loose of the void and the thoughts that clung to her. But she couldn't evade them. The questions hounded her while she fell.

Didn't she want to know the truth? Didn't her past still haunt her?

 _'Don't you want to know?'_ The words bit into her, in both her voice and the sorcerer's.

In the back of her mind, a tiny, scared part of her whispered back,

"Y...Yes..."

The second she said the word, something went loose in her head. The black haze rushed into her thoughts, flooding the rest of her senses. Robin struggled for one instant against it, but it was like standing against a massive wave. Her vision went black... save for a faint image in her mind.

A strange castle, standing on a blasted plain. It stood like a broken husk of a giant, still defiant against a red streaked sky. Looking at it, she could almost imagine a cavernous hallway-

She flinched from a harsh, twisted laugh and a roar of flames tearing into her hearing. Something twisted in her chest, her eyes stinging and watering.

Robin blinked her eyes open, staring at a moon hanging in the sky. The curtains of her bedroom framed the window.

"Dreaming-?" Robin murmured, her voice still fogged with sleep.

She was vaguely aware of how her body moved to stand up. A part of her wondered if she should have been concerned over how she was pulling her clothing back on and drifting towards the door... and yet it also felt like none of that mattered.

Still half asleep, Robin padded through empty halls on surprisingly quiet feet. Her body drifted through the castle, then out to the stables. All around her, horses and pegasi whickered. A few of them were still saddled, on standby just in case.

Still moving, she pulled herself into the saddle of one, and set off. That tiny voice in the back of her head was no longer so faint. Instead it guided her, promising her that if she just followed where it pointed her, she'd get answers.

Robin's mind, clouded with sleep and nightmares, never questioned it.

-o-o-o-

Unease clung to Chrom and chased him into his sleep. He tossed and turned, tangling in the sweat stained sheets.

His dreams were consumed by blue flame, curled into the shape of a dragon's eye. The months that had passed did little to dim the memory of the dragon, or being trapped by its gaze. The eye became his entire world, bathing him in blue. He struggled against the fire, trying to push it back. It was like trying to stop a blade with just his hands.

 _'You've had this dream before.'_ His stomach lurched at the thought, fear tying it into a nauseated tangle. _'You know what happens next.'_

The fire latched onto his skin and burned up his arms. His hands clamped over the flames to try and smother them, and they bit into his fingers in retaliation. The blaze swept over him, eating into his flesh and leaving nothing behind.

He drifted in a burning blue haze, completely consumed.

 _"I'm sorry..."_ A distorted but oddly familiar voice drifted in his ear, impossibly soft as he burned. _"I am sorry for how I love you... it would make this so much easier if I did not, my love. My dearest, dearest_ _ **HATE.**_ _"_

The last word screeched in his ear like nails across stone. A shadowy, column ringed room burned itself into his only for a heartbeat, before something lodged into his side right between his ribs in a flare of gold. He _had_ ribs again, and a form that wasn't flame. And the pain in his side was equal to burning.

Chrom opened his mouth to scream. His throat ached, lurched, and the sound that wrenched out of his mouth was a howling roar. The fire still burned along him, pulsing in time to the shard in his side. The flames reached his chest, touched his heart, and settled into a white hot center within him.

The blue light parted like curtains. Beyond he saw Ylisse. Fire cloaked the buildings and the streets like a massive pyre. He heard screams drifting up from the crackle of flames and the groans of dying buildings, and felt the heat upon his skin. He flew above it all and watched destruction wind up the capital to consume the castle.

And somehow, he knew _he_ was to blame for it.

He woke up with a start, his heart hammering in his chest. Chrom stared at the walls, eyes racing from floor to ceiling and making sure they were unmarked by flame. His eyes found nothing other than the usual stone and plaster.

Finally he stirred, groaning when he sat up and tried to shove a drowsy fog out of his head. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes, Chrom realized; simply collapsed into bed without taking anything off. Maybe THAT was why his skin felt uncomfortably tight and bound up.

The fever was back on him and making his flesh feel like a furnace. He rolled out of the bed and stumbled towards the balcony. Chrom threw his weight into the doors, letting the cool night air wash over him and bring a taste of relief. He lifted his head up to sky and sighed out.

 _'A... a nightmare. Nothing more than that.'_ He just wished that Robin had woken him up again. A busted nose would feel much better than the left over terror smoldering in his chest. Chrom stretched his head back further, trying to get his skin to cool and forcing himself to take deep breaths. With each inhale his heart slowed down.

A pale shape darted across his vision. Chrom's eyes flew open for a better look. The pale blur turned into a pegasus and rider, launching themselves from the stable grounds and into the air. Chrom stared at them, wondering what drove the rider to leave at this hour. Surely everyone was exhausted from repelling the attack-

His eyes sharpened on the figure, just like they had during his hallucination in Feroxi lands. He could make out the individual feathers on the pegasus... and the eyes sewn into the pattern of the rider's sleeves.

"Robin!?" His voice whispered out, raw with shock. He ran to the edge of the balcony. The railing bit into his stomach and stopped him short. He strained against the balcony, eyes still fixed on her.

 _'Don't leave!'_ He reached a hand out to her, like he could draw her back. But she was fading from sight and plunging deeper into the night sky.

Something was wrong. He didn't know what, or how to fix it... but he somehow KNEW he was about to lose her.

He couldn't stand that, Chrom knew with a terrible pain in his chest. His heart was back to pounding, like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest. His blood ran hot for a split second, before the sensation settled across his back in two long, thin burning stripes.

 _'Please... come back.'_ He put a foot up on the balcony, uncaring over how long the fall was to the ground. _'Or let me find you-'_

He let the thought sink into him. He'd welcome this pain and more, if he could just reach her.

Chrom heard and felt a wet tearing noise. Pain blazed along his back, stretched in lines across his spine and shoulders. Something wrenched itself free from his flesh, stretching itself out against the night sky with a snap. The pain vanished, like a long unused muscle was finally being flexed.

"Hold on..." he whispered to the pale point in the sky, and felt something new growing from his back beat at the air. One solid push down with the limbs and his legs, and his feet left the balcony with a rush of air. Another, and he was in the sky. Gravity had no more hold on him now, and he cut a path across the night.

-o-o-o-

Lissa stretched out her arms and gave a massive yawn. The palace gardens gave her room to stretch out and chased away any claustrophobia from fighting in the halls.

"Are you finally winding down, dear? Ladies should have their beauty sleep, or whatever we have left of it." Maribelle spoke off to her side. One of the other young Shepherds, Ricken, sat close by. His hat fell over his face thanks to how drowsy he was.

"C'mon, Maribelle." Lissa said. "Give me a few sympathy points. I was on the back lines doing healing and never got to burn off energy. Besides you don't have to stay up-"

"Balderdash and poppycock. I saw how rattled you were by Emmeryn being in danger. As such, I'll keep you company."

"Y-yeah. This doesn't sl... slow me down at all." Ricken managed, still sounding drowsy. Maybe the fatigue in Ricken's voice was finally piercing the nervous energy in her brain with how it made Lissa give a sleepy blink.

"Well... I think I'm ready to finally call it a night. Unless anyone wants to have some before bed coffee?"

"...You are impossible." Maribelle laughed out, but still turned to escort Lissa back into the palace. Their steps paused, stilled by something flying overhead. Lissa didn't quite catch what it was, but Ricken was a little faster.

"A pegasus rider this late? What's..." He trailed off, hushed by another rush of air. A second dark shape moved over them with heavy wing beats. Lissa couldn't pick out any details; just the lack of starlight in a moving space, which told her there was something in the sky.

She almost caught a flash of something reflecting the stars and moon; a pale, silver and blue tinged color. It made her breath freeze for an instant and her brain scramble to remember where she'd seen the color before-

But just like that the colors and the shape were gone. Whatever was overhead vanished behind the palace walls.

All three of them stayed in place. Each one waiting to see if anything else would happen.

"...Ok. Guys? Hold off on sleeping for a little. Just long enough to make a report with one of the guards. And THEN I promise we'll get some rest."

 _'And,'_ Lissa promised herself, _'go and tell to Chrom first thing in the morning, if the report doesn't reach him before then.'_

-o-o-o-

 _'Keep moving. Keep moving_ _ **keepmoving**_ _.'_ The command buried itself into Robin's mind, smothering the rest of her thoughts. Robin couldn't question why it was so urgent. Just that she had to keep flying to the west.

Time slipped by her. Robin didn't know how long she flew, and she didn't much care. All that mattered now was that she was in the air and beyond the confines of that castle. (Her mind tried to wonder WHY she suddenly didn't like the palace. But the question sunk back into the mire that clouded her head.) Now the suffocating feel of the nightmare was far beyond her, the sky open above her and the earth stretched out below.

 _'Almost free- you still need something more.'_ The thought whined in the back of her head like a fly stuck in a window. _'Answers. Full freedom.'_

A vision flickered across her head again; the massive castle from her dream, still beckoning to her. The stones in it looked ancient in her vision, promising answers and power, both. She only had to reach it-

She dipped in the air, almost falling from the sky.

The pegasus' strength was flagging. Robin felt the exhaustion in how its sides shuddered, and the wing beats went shallow. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she'd taken one already exhausted from the night's fighting. The rest of her urged the creature onwards, determined to reach whatever was calling to her.

Below, green gray fields and forests shrank away, growing more rocky and barren. It didn't look like anything soft or gentle to land in.

It also wasn't where she had to be. However hazy her mind was, Robin knew that. Her head lifted up, the stars blurring out while she stared at some distant point on the horizon. Out there the world turned to lonely sand drifts shimmering silver in the night.

Something tugged at her mind. Some distant memory of riding along the outskirts of a desert with someone. The memory shimmered like a mirage, the rest of the details hanging just out of reach.

 _'I need to know more-'_ She leaned down against the neck of the pegasus to make them a little more streamlined. It bought her a few more minutes. Enough for the desert to flood the landscape underneath her.

When she looked down at the dunes, a strange feeling spread over her. A heartsick lurch and a fever blossoming around the front of her head. This was close to where she had to be... so very, very close.

But the pegasus was at the end of her strength, the last of her reserves spent. The wind went from blowing past her to roaring around Robin, and gravity took hold of them. They slipped from the sky, and Robin knew that softness of the dunes would not be enough to break their barely controlled plummet.

The ground looked cruel, and Robin stared at it in disbelief.

How could this happen? When she was so close to... to something key.

Robin's only warning of something closing with her was a thunder of wings. Not from the pegasus, but something else. A hand latched around her shoulder while another tore her loose from the saddle. Her feet left the stirrups and the pegasus wrenched away with a terrified scream. With her weight suddenly taken off it, its wing beats became stronger. It bolted for the safety of the ground.

She watched it, and realized that she was hanging in the air. Her feet touched nothing. Instead something wrapped around her shoulders while a firm weight pressed against her chest and held her close. It took her a moment to realize the things holding her were arms.

 _'Holding you back-'_ anger seared through her as they drifted away from the west. She wrenched around in the grip and a frustrated scream ripped itself out of her throat. The hands didn't let go no matter how she struggled. Red drew in on the corners of her vision and her hand clawed for the spell book at her side.

She'd kill it. Kill whatever or whoever held her back from where she HAD to be-

The spell gathered in her hand. She wrenched around hard to get a good look at what she had to kill.

Her eyes fell on pale wings, stretched out against the stars. Moonlight shimmered through the feathery, white and blue membranes of skin stretched between bone. They stirred the air and kept them both aloft... and there was something about them that made her seethe at the sight of them.

 _'Naga's blood.'_ Her thoughts snarled. The spell gained force, clutched hard in her fist. Her eyes narrowed, and her fingers tensed. She prepared to plunge the lightning into flesh and shear off those disgusting wings.

But before she could draw up the last bits of energy, her eyes picked out a mop of blue hair, tussled by the wind. The moonlight glowed off a brand of skin on the shoulder, which had a strange blue shimmer to it.

 _'Chrom?'_ A thin whisper moved through her head, pushing back a little of the rage.

Her hand shuddered from the sparks she held, and tried to twitch forward against her control. It still wanted to bury the spell in him, to pay back what he'd interrupted.

The cavernous hallway from her dream flickered into her vision, taking the place of the sky. She could see how it would play out. With his grip on her, Chrom's side was wide open to attack. She could plunge the spell right between his ribs before he could do anything. Then that hateful presence would be gone. She could see it so clearly, almost like-

 _'Like this has happened before.'_ A thought whispered up and carried a thick, heavy grief with it. It shrouded the rage in her mind long enough for one more thought to shiver through her brain.

 _'Not again. NEVER again.'_

"NO!" She shouted out and slammed her hand and spell both into the thunder tome. The vision of stone faded out, snapping back to a night sky as Robin wrenched her hand from Chrom. Her book gave a hard pulse that shuddered up her arm. She fixed her hand against the shake and emptied the spell into the book, instead of Chrom.

The pages crackled under the force of the spell before bursting into flame. The tome fell from her hands like a burning orange star. The color blazed bright, then faded out when it dropped earthward.

The dying spell took whatever was left of the anger with it. Robin stared up at Chrom with clear eyes. But her mind was having a slightly harder time coming to grips with what she saw. Maybe she was still dreaming, after all.

"I...I didn't know you could fly," was all she could manage. Her voice was still laced with sleep.

"Couldn't let anything happen to you-" His own voice was tired, distant from everything happening. A part of her knew she should be shocked over the new limbs growing out of his back... but somehow it didn't feel important just then.

What DID feel important was an increasing weight, and how his wings didn't move with the same strength as before. She felt him shudder and try to keep them aloft, but now he was also at the end of his strength. Above them the wings gave one last twitch before they lost some of their solidity.

With one last feeble beat, the wings evaporated in a shower of sparks. The grip of the earth tightened around them, yanking them clean from the air.

Together, they fell. Blackness closed back over Robin's mind, submerging her. The last thing she heard was a heavy splashing noise, before she spiraled into oblivion. Where even her fever dreams couldn't follow.


	14. Beyond Ylisse

**Chapter 14: Beyond Ylisse**

Daybreak changed the palace grounds into an upturned anthill. Lissa's heart and stomach were a perfect match for the chaos. The first hammered as loud as the guard's rushing feet, and the other tried to turn itself into a tangled and nauseated mess.

Her eyes were blurry and itchy, raw from poor sleep. Morning had brought raised and frantic voices that yanked her out of fitful dreams. Splashing her face off and giving her hair a few brushes was the best she could muster for the morning.

Now she stood in the center of a courtyard as people raced back and forth, but always with the same news on their lips; her brother was missing.

He hadn't answered his door when the morning grew late. Once Frederick had chanced a look inside to rouse the prince, he'd found nothing. The bed looked like it had been slept in, with the sheets tossed about; that and the open doors to the balcony were their only clues.

The knight paused next to her now. Frederick's eyes still desperately scanned the courtyard as though that would force Chrom to turn up.

"Nothing... the training grounds, the barracks, the dining hall... all empty. Only Falchion remained in his rooms." And that clearly troubled Frederick. For that matter it pushed a chill down Lissa's back, too. "It's as though he vanished into thin air."

"Frederick!" Sumia's voice rang out as she rushed over to them. For once she managed with minimal tripping, though she shook from head to foot from nerves. With her skin pale and her eyes wide, she looked like a spooked pegasus. "More bad news... I noticed Robin was gone from her room as well, and started asking around for her. No one's seen her since last night."

Lissa watched as a storm cloud formed over Frederick's features from the news. Before it could grow any stronger she poked him in the side.

"Frederick... healing vocation or not, if you pin this on Robin I SWEAR that I will shove a mending staff straight up your nose."

"...A part of me wants to say this could be her doing." He answered, leaning well away from Lissa. "But... the rest of me says that no, it couldn't have been her. She's spent months protecting us; becoming a turn coat now makes little sense, unless she was a back up plan if the assassination attempt failed-"

"FREDERICK. No more listening to that side of you." Lissa cut in. "Gods, for... for all we know they BOTH just decided they needed some time away."

It sounded weak to her own ears, but Lissa didn't want to consider the more sinister alternatives.

"Maybe we'll find a note or something explaining just that, and they thought that they'd slip away-" She trailed off, a memory from the night before quieting her voice. "Um, Frederick... is there still one pegasus short in the stables?"

"Y-yes," it was Sumia who answered her. "But how did you know that?"

"Something I saw last night. Robin's been learning to ride from you, hasn't she? I saw a pegasus fly off last night, and..."

 _'No way.'_ She'd just imagined the other thing that flew overhead, Lissa told herself. Here in the middle of daylight, her suspicions sounded ridiculous. She'd just focus on what made the most sense, first of all.

"Where was it heading?" Frederick cut in on her thoughts.

"O-oh! Right. It was flying that way." She looked at the direction her finger was pointing before clarifying, "sort of... south and westward."

Her voice picked up on confidence and she glanced to Frederick. "And if you're planning to organize a search party, you'd better include me in it too!"

There'd be a sensible answer waiting at the end of their searching, Lissa told herself.

-o-o-o-

 _'Strange dreams,_ ' was Robin's first thought. Her second thought was wondering over where she was.

Water reached her ears, washing over a shore somewhere close. Robin stirred with a sleepy mumble, hearing a splashing sound as she turned over and felt something cool soak into her skin. Robin cracked her eyes open and shifted her head around to look.

Morning sunlight shimmered down on a small lake. The blue shone out against orange and yellow sand, with patches of green fading in and out between the water and the dunes. As for herself, she was laying half in and out of the water. Her hair was still damp from where she must have been dunked into it, and then washed ashore.

In terms of waking up somewhere she didn't remember, this was only slightly behind the field in terms of strangeness.

 _'At least the water feels nice. Wherever this is, it's hot.'_

Robin lifted her head up with a groan, bruises and aches digging in all along her body. Her torso felt unusually heavy with something resting across her. She looked down and picked out an arm laid over her chest and side. A flash of blue several shades deeper than the lake caught her eye, and Robin turned her head to look down. She found herself staring at Chrom, and saw that her own arms were thrown around his shoulders.

THAT jolted her into wakefulness, and she thrashed out of his grip with a shout and a splash. Water sprayed over Chrom's face and he bolted upright as well.

"What-!?" He sputtered out, before his eyes fell on Robin. A second later his eyes took in the oasis, and he managed a surprisingly intelligent question for it being the first thing in the morning. "...Where are we?"

That calm question lasted for all of a heartbeat, before Chrom's mind jolted into wakefulness.

"Wh-where are we!?" He repeated, an edge of panic creeping into his voice. "And how did we get here!? Where's the rest of the Shepherds-"

His head snapped around as he called out for Frederick and Lissa. Then going through the rest of the roster with increasing desperation. His eyes stretched wide when they failed to materialize. Only sand, stones and water met his gaze.

"Gods, what- where is-?" His mouth couldn't settle on which question to ask. And Robin couldn't find any answers, no matter how she scoured her brain. Her thoughts still felt half clouded with sleep and wouldn't focus. They jolted and shied like a skittish horse.

 _'Sand...'_ They strayed into one idea, a faint washed out memory as Robin looked at the dunes. _'Moonlight, shining on bright sand and... falling?'_

Robin grit her teeth and shook her head. None of what ran through her thoughts made any sense. Chrom's sides shuddered as he grappled with what must have been faint memories of his own.

"Robin, what's happening to us!?" He blurted out.

"I wish I knew!" Her own words rushed out. "Look, waking up in strange places was weird enough when it happened to just _me._ Having you get thrown into the situation makes it a lot more complicated than before, and I'm trying to think and find some sort of answer!"

Her cheeks flushed with how her voice squeaked at the end.

 _'Things are... everything is messed up right now, and I don't know WHY.'_

"But I'll figure out... I'll figure out some way to solve this-"

HOW she was going to solve it, Robin didn't know. And she didn't have any time to focus on a solution. Chrom opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut and tilted his head to the side. She mirrored the gesture as something drifted over the dunes; voices, from some place just out of sight but growing closer.

-o-o-o-

The warm, hushed aura of the chapel enveloped Lissa. She tilted her head up to catch rays of light shining through the great stained glass windows.

To either side of her the long windows stretched up and proudly displayed silver and gold dragons. Lissa rested her eyes on them, wondering if Naga was watching over Chrom, the same way the dragons looked down on the chapel.

 _'If she isn't, I'll pray her ear off until she does.'_

The gods had at least given them speed with assembling the initial search party. She'd left Frederick to overlook the last of the preparations; he'd already organized food, weapons, transportation and even small comforts with efficiency. All part of being a knight, he'd told her... and NOT being a steward. He'd raised his voice at the last when he saw Maribelle was in earshot.

They'd likely be ready to set out within another candle mark, to catch up with the initial search party. Phila had even sent a request to the pegasus knights, asking them to lend some of their best fliers. The last Lissa had heard was an oncoming rush of wings, and glimpsing a rider with long red hair reporting to Frederick.

A flit of red from the glass washed over Lissa as she moved down the cathedral hall. Designs in glowing white, rich sapphire and crimson, deep green, and a purple so deep it was almost black. It created a kaleidoscope of colors across the cathedral stones.

Two figures knelt at the head of the cathedral. A statue of Naga rose above them, the divine dragon in her human form and arms outstretched. The figure looked ready to bestow blessings on whoever prayed before her, the long carved scarf around her body stretching out like a rippling halo. Below her was someone in the white robes of the order, along with a figure in the green robes of high rank.

"What are you doing here?" The words tumbled out of Lissa's mouth and echoed off the cathedral walls. They masked the rustling of the Hierarch's robes as he turned to face her, the monk at his side mirroring the motion. A moment later Lissa could've smacked herself for missing the obvious.

"Praying, right? Right." Lissa shifted on her feet, abruptly feeling like and interloper. "I was just... well I wanted to give Naga a prayer too, for Chrom."

"Princess? I didn't realize you'd come to pray for his highness as well. I'll remove myself." The monk kept his head bowed, his long golden hair obscuring his face. True to his words, he left before Lissa could get a good look at him. His steps were slow and devout as he left the chapel, and the Hierarch watched him go.

"It does my heart well, to see you keep the faith so." The Hierarch told Lissa... and yet, the lines around his eyes told a different story. The worry etched into his face was deeper than ever before.

"You're not pushing yourself with your prayers, are you?" She asked.

"Nay... Perhaps I could display a touch more faith, like you or young Libra. The monk who just excused himself." He nodded to the direction of Libra.

"He and the priests will try to manage their own discreet searches. But for me, I fear these times... sap some strength from me. The dead walk, our borders are tested and strain, and your own brother is troubled-"

"Yes, but we're going to find him! And as for the rest... we'll fix it somehow. Once we've got Chrom and Robin back, you'll see that."

"Ah yes the... stranger your brother found. Well then, I will try to gather my faith for that." With his face turned from the light, Lissa saw the dark circles under his eyes, and the weariness around his shoulders. He looked so... worn down, from so many long years. Just a faint echo of the strong voice of faith that had guided Emm through the early years of her rule.

"Ah... you worry to much, dear child. I may have the best of my years behind me, but I can still accompany you in your search. And perhaps... perhaps things will take a turn for the better."

Lissa just hoped that as they traveled the countryside, what the man saw would reaffirm his faith. She didn't much like the idea of what might happen if that crumbled away.

"Can I ask what you were praying for? Because if it's for Chrom to grow a brain and come back, I can join you." A small twinge itched at the back of her head, one that wasn't based around her lack of reverence. Just a strange feeling of something being... off. Lissa found herself repeating to question.

"What were you praying for?"

"Guidance and... forgiveness. I fear we all have our moments of weakness." Part of her wanted to press for more. The rest of her thoughts reminded Lissa she still had her own prayers to give, and could probably stand to be a little more pious in a holy place.

"I will leave you to the gods, so that you might have all their attention." The Hierarch finished, and saw himself out.

-o-o-o-

The voices snaked down from the dunes surrounding them. Chrom tensed up from the cruel edge that just managed to slide up against his ears. Nothing about them sounded friendly, even if he couldn't pick out words yet.

His hands went to his sword belt, and grasped only air. Panic snapped through him and yanked his head down. Falchion was missing from his side, the empty space in his belt looking and feeling like a missing limb. All he had was a plain, brown pouch tied to his side.

 _'I don't think that will help.'_

With how Robin froze, she didn't have a weapon on her, either.

"H-hiding sound like a good plan?" Robin asked. His throat was too dry to manage words; instead Chrom gave a quick nod. Robin pulled him towards a collection of pale, jutting rocks that they ducked behind.

He crouched down low, keeping one eye on the ridge of the closest dune. The other flickered over the stones for a moment, wondering over how smooth their texture was, and the peculiar white, almost bone color to them...

"THERE, sons. I told you we'd find the bones. Bring the girl with you; have her cleaned up. We'll be reaching the grounds for the ceremony, soon enough." Words yanked his attention back up.

Chrom watched the line of figures crest the ridge and move along the dunes. Some rode desert horses, and others walked on foot. Nearly all of them dressed in a rich dark scarlet that brought to mind dried blood, trimmed with gold collars around their necks.

 _'I can see the gold from this far away-'_ Chrom realized with a start. And it wasn't a faint glimmer. He could easily see the fangs the metal had been shaped into, sharp against the cloth and skin. His vision tunneled and a sweat beaded on his brow as a familiar shiver from a night ago moved through him. His hand reached out to find Robin's and he felt her fingers curl around his grip. The contact steadied his heartbeat and his vision.

"I... I can see them." He whispered out. "Gaunt faces, mainly... some have eyes painted onto their forehead. There's two others that look a little different- gods, they _do_ have a girl with them. In chains..." he trailed off and held tight to Robin. That was the only thing that kept him from charging up the hill at the strangers. He could see bite the ropes had left on the girl's wrists. Close behind her was a man lacking the red robes of the others, watching the men with a wary eye and one hand on his sword.

Something shot through the girl, and she lifted her head up when the oasis came into sight. Her eyes settled right where he and Robin crouched. The way she looked at them, it was like they weren't hidden at all.

Chrom sucked in his breath when he saw her gather up her strength and bolted. She slipped free of the captors before they could so much as blink, and half ran and half tumbled down the sand dunes in a plume of dust. She came to a rest at the bottom, already tearing at the ropes with her teeth as she wriggled free.

"OY! What is girl thinking!?" The swordsman on top of the hill shouted, before charging down after her as well. That spurred the girl to stand up and keep running, while shouts moved through the line of scarlet robed men. In another heart beat, they were giving chase and intent on closing the gap.

"Well. This is a fine mess we've found ourselves in the middle of." Robin managed as she watched. "Chrom... I'm guessing we want to help the girl? The man chasing her... I don't think he's a threat."

"What... what makes you say that?" Chrom rasped out, still fighting to stay hidden.

"Look; he's closed the gap enough that he could draw steel and cut her down. He isn't. And... he also happens to have something we BOTH lack at the moment."

"You mean steel? Good point." Chrom sighed; gods but he felt almost naked without his sword. Best not tell that to Robin, though.

"Stay down. I don't know what will happen if anyone see that the prince of Ylisse is here, but I doubt it would be anything good." Robin heaved herself up as she spoke, and stepped out of cover. At once, Chrom picked out shouts from the chasers.

"YOU THERE! Plegian! Help us with the runaway!" The one at the front of the pack called out to her. Robin went shock still at his words, before glancing down at the eyes in her sleeves. The girl faltered when she saw Robin, and Chrom finally picked out that she was screaming a never ending stream of "nononogetawayfromme GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Will small girl please stop with the screaming! Gregor is trying to make with assisting and cannot do so with aching ears!"

 _'Well, that answers who we're supposed to be helping at least.'_ But still, Robin was facing a horde of fanatic Plegians with nothing more than her robes. He saw her hands go down to a spell book that wasn't there, while the leader of the band screamed and cursed at Robin.

"Stir your rotted limbs and live up to the mark on your sleeves!" Chrom and Robin's eyes stretched wide at the comment. But there was just no time to dwell on it, or ask questions of the grim faced, robed men. "Or die where you stand as a traitor!"

There was already a mage drawing closer, moving away from his brothers as they struggled against the shifting ground. The mage's feet moved over the sand like it wasn't there, his steps sure. Chrom cursed under his breath, wishing there was SOMETHING he could do to help, somehow-

It wasn't a sword his hand closed on. Just a stone with some heft to it. But Chrom decided it was better than nothing. He grabbed it in his hands, stood, and threw it out in the same motion. His aim was good; he missed the girl and the mercenary by inches, and instead the stone hit the mage. The Plegian gasped as his eyes rolled back, and he stumbled forward.

"THIS WAY!" Robin called out. "We're not friends of Plegia, but hopefully that makes us allies!"

She dashed forward, and Chrom blinked in shock. He thought the goal was to escape the Plegians... but the mercenary must have seen something in her eyes, as he paused, turned, and knelt down by the fallen Plegian. With a few quick movements of his hands, he'd found a spell tome on the man, and threw it spine first to Robin.

"Here! Is not such a good idea to be fighting bare handed, yes?"

Robin's answer was to catch the book, before spinning on her heel and gesturing for them to follow her. She saw Chrom standing out and shouted to him.

"CHROM! I got a head count of thirteen against the four of us! We HAVE to neutralize the number advantage if we want to stand a chance! Head for the water and the hill!" Robin pointed out to the edge of the lake. Shimmering through the heat haze, Chrom could just pick out a rise in the land. A hill of some sort rose up against the shore, leaving them with a narrow strip of land.

He didn't need to be told twice. Judging from the snort of horses, the sand wouldn't bog the mounted ones down for long. He joined the group as they raced hard to where the oasis met the hill.

"Huh. Is unexpected," the mercenary continued, looking over them. "Gregor was hoping to sneak out with girl under nightfall. Middle of day is not good for escaping."

"I didn't know you were going to HELP me!" The girl yelled back. "I thought... I was sure... how can you blame me, with how scary your face is!"

"Small girl should use sharp words against enemies. Gregor has face of innocent baby!"

"Well, we've found ourselves back into good company." Chrom managed. Hooves pounded the sand behind them, getting louder on each breath. Chrom's feet wanted to slow... not because they were tired, but because something hummed in his blood and urged for him to stand and fight.

He gave up struggling against the instinct. Instead he planted his feet and shouted to the two newcomers. "Keep going! We'll give you a little more space!"

Robin stopped along with him, shaking her head.

"There's no way I'm going to stand aside and let you face a mounted enemy with just your bare hands..." she trailed off as she saw his arm twitch. Chrom narrowed his eyes, watching the horse and rider charge towards him; the spear was out and leveled on his chest.

 _'Whatever is in me... I need some strength now.'_ Robin opened the tome next to him, focusing on a second rider coming up. Fire flew free from her hands and slammed into the second rider, turning the world scarlet and red.

The desert temperature spiked around him, and something burned right underneath his skin. He wondered for a moment if his own flesh looked almost... brighter. But that thought was swiftly muted. His heart refused to be outdone by the flames and made his pulse roar just as loud in his ears. Ahead the first rider's lance turned scarlet from the spell.

Just as he was about to be skewered, he felt the world lurch around him again. Perfectly slow, leaving him space to dodge around the spear and grasp the weapon in his hands. He gave a hard wrench, and the man was yanked free of the saddle. The horse wheeled and ran in the other direction, as Chrom turned the spear around in his hands and stabbed downwards, into the fallen man. The world lurched back into full motion as his enemy died, but Chrom didn't pause to contemplate it; instead he was back to running.

Ahead he finally picked out the hill... or what he THOUGHT was the hill. Robin must have realized at the same instant that they weren't dealing with sand; instead more of those pale rocks stretched up, forming something that looked a lot like a ribcage. A skull rested half in and half out of the water.

They were running straight to the bones of something ancient, and Chrom could pick out a crest of horns on the skull, as well as sharp teeth still resting in the jaw.

"Dragon bones," he whispered out. Something about them made his steps a little lighter. The sand completely released his feet, letting him skim along the dunes in an easy run. Robin must have felt it to, with how they cut towards the remains. Water replaced sand under their feet and splashed around their ankles. He had to move behind Robin so they wouldn't get bogged down in the deeper water and muddy sand. They stopped just before the skull. With it to their backs, they at least didn't have to worry about getting encircled.

As they ran he saw the mercenary, Gregor, un-sling something from his back; an extra sword, still in its scabbard.

"Always good to have a backup," Gregor told them. "And right now steel serves better in other's hands than on back.

"Give it to him," Robin pointed to Chrom. "I'm out of practice anyways. Chrom will have more luck with it than I will."

Chrom caught the blade when Gregor threw it, and turned to face the approaching Plegian. Steel rasped free from the scabbard as the mercenary stood beside him.

"Heh, if Gregor could have your years, Gregor would gladly take them. Running flat out and you are missing no breath." With a start, Chrom realized Gregor was right; he was breathing just fine. Ahead of them, the Plegians slowed, and Chrom could hear them shouting as they were forced into single file thanks to the terrain. The fanatical screams of the red robe all the way in the back urged them on, shouting something about the glory of Grima.

He heard a scuffle of sand behind him, and turned to see Robin wincing. Her hand raked through her hair as she clutched at her head.

"Miss? Miss? Please don't collapse right now?" The girl's voice piped up, and Robin struggled to lift her head and get ready to fight.

Then the first of the soldiers were upon them. The sell sword knew his way in a fight, Chrom gave him that. He parried the first sword strike and sliced into the man on the other side; the man's robes turned a richer shade of red as he fell to the side. Chrom scored his own hits, hoping he'd bought them a little more space-

He stared as the Plegians surged forward. The next two didn't bother to fight and instead ran themselves onto the blades. With a drop in his stomach he knew what they were doing; weighing down the swords so the others could swarm over them.

"Oh no, NO YOU DON'T. Just... just go away!" The girl shouted behind him and her voice took on a strange echo. Chrom flinched as a shadow fell over them, and heard Robin gasp out something. In another instant he realized it was the shadow of wings. Something blazed by overhead and slammed into the oncoming Plegians in an explosion of bright magic. The blast annihilated some and threw the rest clear off their feet, making their robes snap like banners as they flew backwards. Chrom wrenched his sword free of the attacker and spun around to look behind him.

He found himself facing a dragon. Smaller than the one he'd fought months ago, but still full of fight. The golden scales shimmered that little bit brighter and richer than the desert sands around them. Robin gave a stunned gasp and he could barely draw a breath as he watched.

"A- A manakete?" He whispered out in wonder. His shoulder gave a low ache that spread through his fingers and almost made them drop the sword.

"OY! Time for gawking will be later! Right now swords are being needed!" Chrom forced his eyes away to look at the oncoming soldiers... but he also felt something in him stay behind, latched to the dragon behind him.

Maybe that was why he knew Robin was pacing up behind them. He sensed her a moment before she pushed herself between the fighter's shoulders and stepped to the front. Gregor shouted at her, but her eyes stayed focused on the last of the Plegians.

When she raised her hand, Chrom saw her mark shining violet, pulsing in time to his own brand. A thin veil of violet seemed to coat Robin's form as she cast her hand out to let the spell loose.

The gout of fire sprang from her hand and roared through what was left of the Plegians. When the flames cleared, nothing was left but charred bones. Chrom swore that he saw thin strips of sand melted down to twinkling bits of glass.

"That... that WAS just an El Fire tome, wasn't it?" Robin wavered in response, and the book fell out of her hands. The pages in it had turned to a smoldered mess, already spent thanks to how much power she'd channeled through them.

"Wow..." the echo was gone from the girl's voice. In the corner of his eye, Chrom saw a person standing in place of the dragon. "Can you teach ME how to do that?"

Robin slumped against the bones, sides heaving. Her head listed from side to side, the girl's words rushing by her ears unheard. Her eyes couldn't, or wouldn't, focus on any of them as she lifted her head. Instead they stayed fixed on some point on the southern horizon.

"Miss? Heeeeey, miss? You overheated or something?" For that matter, Chrom was having a hard time focusing on the girl's voice. Not with that strange, half light behind Robin's eyes demanding his focus.

 _'I've seen this before-?'_ He thought, right as Robin took a step forward. Chrom stepped with her, moving into her path. Sand shifted underneath Chrom's feet, cutting their balance and dropping both of them. The impact of the ground felt oddly muted, neither of them gasping.

The drawstrings on the pouch at his side went loose as Chrom floundered in the sand. A strange silver glimmer lit up the underside of Robin's face, and her eyes snapped back into focus as she stared at Chrom.

"What just-?" she managed, before staring down at the source of the glow. Chrom followed it, to see a familiar silver gem resting in the sand. It gave another pulse of soft light, and the gentle color washed any left over battle fever or haze out of Chrom's head.

The same must have been true for Robin with how she relaxed... and stopped trying to walk off.

"I-I don't know what just happened." Chrom muttered.

"Neither do I... but it helped, somehow." Robin rubbed at her head as she spoke, like she was waking up from another bad dream. With a grunt Chrom pushed himself off his back to look down at the gemstone.

"...Truth be told I'd sooner have a sword than a gem." He found himself murmuring, still missing Falchion.

"It's still a treasure of Ylisse, isn't it?" Robin eased herself away from him, waving to the others to show she was ok. But her eyes stayed resting on the gem, narrowed in thought. "All I know is that we're knee deep in some sort of sorcery, Chrom. And I have a guess that somehow, the gemstone helps... let's just hope that it helps us long enough to get back to Ylisse."


	15. Fragments

**Chapter 15: Fragments**

Moonlight peaked out behind silvery clouds, illuminating four sets of tracks leading away from the oasis. Soon enough the footprints were joined by hoof marks, as the group found a horse that hadn't strayed far.

Several hours of travel found where the tracks ended. A small campsite at the foot of a grayed-out dune, with a spark of a campfire crackling and illuminating four people in a rough semi-circle of orange. One of them shrugged out of the robe she'd been wearing, letting the cool air wash over her skin.

Robin laid her robe gently against the ground, her fingers smoothing out the creases and folding the cloth out. She treated the entire process as a ritual to help calm her mind, and review everything that had happened.

They hadn't lingered at the oasis. Not with the bodies of the cultists still around. Chrom named them 'Grimleal' and just the name pushed tension into Robin's muscles and made her want to bolt; no direction, just as long as it was away from the corpses and their symbols.

Luckily, she'd kept her wits just enough to decide that east was a good direction to go in. And rationalize the decision as not waiting around for reinforcements to show up. Once they'd looted what they could, filled up on water, and coaxed the one remaining horse to go with them, they'd set out.

The sell sword Gregor had been content to act as their guide and lead the horse. His accent was still odd, but he managed to fill them in on some of what had happened. The girl's name was Nowi, a former prisoner and potential sacrifice of the Grimleal, and as Chrom had whispered out, she was a manakete.

Robin wondered over the girl, and how easily she'd kept with the pace. Going by Chrom's shock, people who could change into dragon's were rare. Nowi had moved with an easy step, the heat of the desert clearly not bothering her.

Robin rolled her shoulders and made another fold on the robe; her own body had held up against the desert heat with a surprising amount of stamina, the same as Chrom and Nowi. The fact the least fit had been a seasoned mercenary raised some strange questions.

 _'Though thinking on an empty stomach hasn't been giving any results. Dinner first.'_

While Gregor prepared the rations, Nowi rubbed the animal down and told him what a good horse he was. And that she was sure he preferred traveling with them instead of 'those bad guys.' The horse simply whickered in response.

They didn't have much in the way of equipment to salvage from the cultists, in part thanks to Robin's fire blast. Still, they had enough to make for a light meal of bread and water, which was better than nothing.

"Gregor has a thought... going by your clothing, you are Ylisse? And with the quality of clothing, you are... Prince?" Gregor asked around his portion of bread. Chrom started upright, and Robin felt tension build up in her as well.

"RELAX." Gregor roared out in a laugh. "While bounty for a prince in Plegia might be good... rewards as Ylisse escort may well be better! And would be resting much easier on Gregor's conscience besides!"

Robin settled back down, sighing in relief.

"Yes... we want to reach our borders in Ylisse if at all possible." Chrom answered. "We... the circumstances that brought us here were odd."

"Well, if money is good... Gregor will not ask too many questions, yes? And will see about getting rest before taking next watch."

"I guess this is where I complain and say I'm not sleepy at all... but to be honest, after today I'm ready to drop." Nowi added. "So you know what? Good night! And don't worry too much; I'd like to get you back home too, as thanks for helping me out in a tight spot!"

She gave Robin and Chrom a cheery wave, before promptly falling back into the threadbare blankets they'd found in the horse's pack. It didn't take long for manakete and mercenary to both produce a symphony of snores. Robin didn't know whether to laugh or stare.

Chrom also watched them, fighting between a similar set of expressions.

"Not ready for sleep, I take it?" Robin turned to him.

"Not with THAT particular symphony going on, no." Chrom laughed a little, but it sounded strained to Robin's ears. It was also telling that he wouldn't meet her eyes, instead staring up at the dune's ridge. His eyes were half focused on the starlight, with a distant quality to them.

"But... that's not the only reason, is it? There's something troubling you." Robin ventured.

"...A lot of things." Chrom sighed out, pulling his gaze away from the sky and looking at her. "Starting with how we ended up here."

"Then maybe..." Robin sighed out, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Maybe we should work on remembering how, if we can."

 _'Asking an amnesiac to remember the past. This is bound to go over well.'_

-o-o-o-

The Shepherd's camp had settled down for the evening, people grabbing what rest they could before the morning brought another day of searching.

At least, those who COULD rest.

Lissa's nerves felt like a coiled spring. She could barely keep down the apple she nibbled on; Vaike had tossed it to her earlier that day, saying she needed to eat up and stop looking like a sheet.

Added to that, Lon'qu had arrived with a message from Emm; in a few more days, the Exalt would have court arranged to carry on in her absence, and would be riding out with Phila to assist in the search.

And see to their defenses on the borders; Plegia, or bandits with an accent very much like Plegia, had been gnawing at their defenses.

"This is what happens when you leave, Chrom." Lissa huffed out and kicked at a stone. "Plegia takes another stab at us, YOU aren't around to help, and I can't even help Frederick pick a direction to search."

She hated just how frazzled she felt, and picked up the pace, kicking a few more rocks along the path for good measure. The pebbles skittered ahead of her, bouncing against the feet of two figures ahead.

The green of the Hierarch's robes was muted by the night, as was the other person's red hair.

 _'Cordelia,'_ Lissa reminded herself. The pegasus knight was hushed, eyes downcast as she murmured a prayer for her sisters.

"They're at the front of the conflict. And every time a raid happens, I worry that another may have lost her life. So... if you could beseech Naga to watch out for them-"

Cordelia's voice wavered, and Lissa frowned over how the Hierarch seemed to have only half his focus on her, simply nodding along to her words. His eyes were instead trained upwards, and he didn't seem to be beseeching the heavens.

"One eye on the sky?" Lissa found herself asking the old priest. She couldn't bring herself to feel guilt when he started from Lissa's voice, before nodding.

"Trying to praying again, for madam Cordelia. And... I'm not sure if I hope to see things in the sky, or not." Cordelia remained silent, her own eyes staying fixed to the ground.

"What, like Pegasus Knights?" Lissa pressed, not caring if she was being nosy. The priest didn't look at her just then, but Lissa simply planted her feet and waited for an answer.

"More of... specters in the night sky. That ride on pale wings." His voice came out muted, and Lissa's blood tried to run cold at the words. She'd been trying to stamp out that image, dismiss it as a late night post-battle hallucination.

"Wait, wings? W-when did you see that?"

"The night the Prince and the Shepherds' tactician went missing. It could have been old eyes playing tricks on me, however..." The Hierarch trailed off, waiting to see if Lissa would add anything. But her tongue had turned to lead.

 _'We were all just imagining things.'_ She desperately told herself. _'Too much battle and not enough sleep. That would make anyone see things!'_

"Milady Lissa?" Cordelia spoke up. "You look exhausted; let me escort you back to your tent." Lissa couldn't argue with that; she felt impossibly tired, just then. It was only when she left the priest that Lissa wondered why he'd seen the same thing as her... or why he'd still been awake during the raid on the castle.

But by then they were circling the edge of the camp, and she did NOT want to revisit that conversation.

"...Cordelia, right?" Lissa finally found her voice, as the two walked.

"I was just wondering... you've flown patrols near Plegia, right? You've seen the wyverns that live there?" At Cordelia's nod, she mustered up enough courage to ask "...what do they look like? I've always heard that they're sort of like dragons and colored dark. But is that everything?"

"Mm, well... I've seen some colored dark blue, very rarely. But yes, they are like a very diminutive dragon. Some tales say they're an offshoot of the dragon tribe."

"But... could they ever be colored white? And could there ever be any that might fly into Ylisse?" She was grasping at straws, Lissa knew. Cordelia must have picked up on the desperation as well.

"I've never heard of any such thing, Princess."

 _'That's what I was afraid of.'_ Cordelia opened her mouth to speak... but trailed off as something drifted in from the edges of the camp. A voice, pitched in such a way that it was managing a few notes of song.

" _Far... far away,_ " Lissa's head lifted up at the sound, and Cordelia followed as she canted her head to the side. The pegasus rider gave the tiniest nod to show she'd heard it as well, and tilted her head to the woods bordering the camp.

They found the singer close by, back to them and humming snatches of the song under her breath. It marked the third time Lissa had heard that melody… and the fourth time she'd seen that particular singer.

For once Marth didn't seem to be on high alert. The young woman focused on the blade at her side, instead of her surroundings. Marth traced the teardrop in the hilt with her fingers, her eyes half shut as she meditated on the shape.

"You've got a real knack for following us around, Marth." Lissa remarked with a dry note in her voice. That yanked Marth's head up, and the girl tried to bolt all the way to her feet. She only succeeded in tangling her legs in the sword scabbard and tumbling over with a squawk.

"That's Marth? I'd always imagined her to be a bit more... dashing than all of that." Cordelia managed as Marth struggled back to her feet.

"Usually she is. Though I'm still wondering why she's here." By then Marth had straightened herself up and taken a deep breath to compose herself.

"...I'm here for the same as you. I'd heard about how- how the Prince and the Shepherd's tactician vanished in the night." Marth's voice caught oddly on the names. Almost like she wanted to say something else. "I went through a lot of effort to keep them safe. I'd like to make certain they remain so, for the good of Ylisse."

Despite taking a fall and bruising her ego, it didn't take long for Marth to put the aloof act again. Lissa scowled in annoyance.

"There you go again with the cryptic talk. I'm starting to think you might know something I don't." That got Marth to still, and Cordelia made a confused noise.

"Miss Lissa... could you clarify that?" The pegasus rider asked.

"Well, first Marth saves me, then my brother, and finally Emm. Three different interventions, and added to that she has a knack for showing up at exactly the right time. So yes, I do think something's up." She looked straight at Marth. "Are you blessed by Naga with foresight, or similar?"

"I- Something like that. But what happens now... it's gone outside of what I can predict. So I'm a touch wary." Marth, however, would not look at either of them. She seemed almost afraid of prolonged eye contact and stared down at her blade instead.

 _'It does look like Falchion's twin. Add another to the mystery pile.'_

"But I have the same goal as you; finding the missing Shepherds, and ensuring they're safe. I promise you that."

"...She doesn't seem to be lying." Cordelia said. "And if the past reports are correct... I'd guess she'd be an asset to the Shepherds."

Marth simply nodded.

"I'm here to help, however I can... but I fear my leads are running out, which is why I'm here." Frustration seeped into Marth's voice, and she gave Lissa a cautious, side-long glance.

"Au- Miss Lissa? Is there... anything you might know about what's happening? Anything at all?" The pale shape against the stars teased at her memory again. Lissa shook the memory free by shaking her head back and forth. And Marth seemed to deflate from the denial, shoulders hunching.

"...Marth?" Lissa tried, only for Marth to fold in a little further.

"I-I'm terrified I haven't done enough to help," Marth's voice cracked out. And for a moment that last bit of mask she wore as a consummate warrior fell, showing a scared girl underneath it. Marth turned her head from Lissa, not wanting to show her weakness.

"I can't let anything happen to them, but now they've _left-_ " she choked on the last word. Even Cordelia froze from the emotion. Leaving it to Lissa to step forward.

"H-hey... it's going to be ok. We're looking for Chrom and Robin, you're looking out for them in your own way. They'll be alright." That got Marth to still again. The girl took a deep breath before continuing.

"Listening to you I- I almost believe it." There was still a guarded quality to Marth's words and posture, like she was scared of placing too much trust in Lissa. "But you're right. We need to at least try. I'll look further south, to see if I can find anything, or anyone."

"We'll keep heading west. Maybe we'll see you again?"

"I almost hope you won't need to, if all goes well." Before she could ask what that meant or remark that Marth had shifted back into full on cryptic mode again, the swordswoman was taking her leave.

"Well. She has a flare for the dramatic." Cordelia remarked. Lissa nodded, and found herself trudging back to camp, feeling a lot more exhausted than before.

But at least with a direction in mind... and a stray thought that she could always try being a bit more independent, like Marth. If needed, and if Chrom didn't show his dumb blue head in the next few days.

-o-o-o-

"...So. What happened to us?" Chrom repeated, picking right up from where they'd left off in the oasis. Except this time he wasn't searching wildly for anyone else; just staring into the campfire flames. The firelight whirled and crackled almost hypnotically.

"I've thought about it all through the day. I didn't want to bring it up while they were awake, because the wasn't much point in burdening them." Chrom nodded to where Gregor and Nowi snored away. "But now... I..."

Two hitches in his breath, and his voice gave up.

"...I don't know, either." Hoarseness wrapped around Robin's words. "I don't remember. Just that-"

"That we went to sleep in the palace, and somehow we're in Plegia now. The LAST place we should be." His fingers tore lines into the sand as he spoke. "All I have are..."

Once again, he tried to think back. And just like before he was met with a hazy tangle of sensations. Choking heat, a phantom ache in his ribs, the feeling of air sliding across his skin and dizzying vertigo.

"None of this makes sense!" Chrom hissed out at last. Nearby the sleepers grumbled, a warning his voice had almost risen too much. Chrom reigned in his emotions, carefully measuring his breath before he turned and looked to Robin.

The tactician shivered like a dried out leaf in the wind. A strange, squeezing pressure wrapped around his heart, watching her tremble like that.

"...What's happening to us?" Chrom whispered again, his voice almost crushed by the situation. The fire seemed to die by a few degrees, the night going all the more dark and uncertain around them.

"I wish I could tell you. But this... it's like waking up in a field all over again. My thoughts feel like a muddy, churning river..." Robin shook her head. "But not knowing is unacceptable."

She breathed in through her nose, calming her nerves. Chrom tried to mimic her, as Robin gathered herself up and spoke again. "I KNOW for certain all of the following happened; we repelled an attack against Emmeryn, she gave you the silver gem, and then we all tried to rest up. Then we woke up at the oasis... but it's everything that had to happen in between that doesn't make any sense."

"Let me take a turn, then." Chrom stared into the flames, letting the sight calm his head... and his heart, for what he was about to bring up. There had been one thing scratching at the back of his head for most of the day; a faint wisp of thought that made his heart ache.

"I-I remember stepping outside my room, after a nightmare. I was half asleep, but I was so sure I saw..." Chrom screwed his eyes shut, letting the memory seep fully into his head like blood from a wound. In his mind's eye he picked out Robin's shape. Her sleeves had been streaming behind her, dark against a star strewn sky.

 _'But it really was Robin. I know it. And she-'_

Chrom wrenched himself away from the memory to look up at her.

"Robin, I know I saw you on a pegasus last night. And you..." Desperation, fear, pain all flooded in with his memory, no matter how he tried to clamp down on them.

"You _left_." The word all but sobbed out of his throat. Chrom's cheeks flushed when he heard his own voice, and how ragged it was. He almost didn't want to meet Robin's gaze, knowing how hurt he must have looked.

"Why?" But he still forced himself to watch her, desperate for an answer. The fire colored the whites of her eyes orange. She started to shake her head back and forth, like she was going to deny what he said... only to go still.

"I..." Now it was her turn to shut her eyes and search inward. Dredging through her memories, however few they were. She went pale as blood tried to drain out of her face from whatever played in her head.

"I think I sleepwalked through a lot of nightmares before I woke up with you. When I think back on it, it's like trying to push through sticky cobwebs. But there's one thing I remember sticking out in my dreams. The leader of the assassins." Robin whispered, a pained look crossing her face and screwing her eyes shut even tighter. "And what he said, before he died."

"You went still when you fought him," and it had made his vision go red, when he saw her shaking and driven to her knees. Chrom's arms twitched, an echo of the desperate energy flickering through them again. "I-I was worried when I saw that."

"It wasn't an unfounded worry. He said that he knew me… and it makes me sick to wonder why, but I can't stop turning that thought over and over in my head, either. It followed me into my dreams, and… maybe something else. It could have been a dying curse, or," Robin glared down at her hand, giving her head a curt shake back and forth. "But he's dead now. I hope that means any nightmares will vanish with him."

 _'I'd kill him again, if I had to.'_ The thought snarled across his head, with a heat he hadn't felt since his audience with Emmeryn over Plegia. Unlike before, he found himself trying to shrink from the rage; that anger may have been useful for fighting, but not helping Robin. _'Nor with keeping her safe... or close.'_

"So you didn't mean to leave?" He managed.

"I-I wasn't myself. It didn't feel like it was just me in control. It was like something was pulling me... and maybe I don't remember much of my dream, but I KNOW I don't want to feel anything like that again. And I don't want to put you through any hurt again, either." Robin cracked her eyes open just enough to look at Chrom. Regret gave her eyes a blurry quality. "But... I think the gem helps, for now. I don't feel like I need to go further into the desert at least."

So somehow, he'd done something to help. And she didn't seem ready to leave again. That was one weight off his back and uncoiling from his heart.

 _'But how did I catch up to her and help in the first place?'_ Robin could have read his mind, with the wide-eyed look she gave him.

"And... Gods Chrom, I know this sounds ludicrous, but I swore you flew after me, to stop me from following whatever was in my dreams."

"Flying?" A laugh tried to work its way onto Chrom's tongue, but stuttered in his lungs. "I have a hard time believing it. How would I do that?"

"On... wings maybe?" The laugh died the rest of the way at Robin's words and look. Shadows were drawn across her face, her eyes staring at him in a way that made his body freeze up.

"I didn't dream that." Her voice was barely a whisper. "The feeling of wind in my hair is too vivid."

His back went stiff at her words, something cold traveling down his spine. He tried to stamp the feeling out, shaking his head. This was even worse than the memory of her leaving. A chill ghosted back across his skin, a hint of breeze from a night ago-

 _'That can't be true!'_ People didn't fly. They didn't hover over cities, even if his mind conjured images of Ylisstol spread out below him. In his head, the night lights of a dozen windows blurred together, into a blistering inferno underneath him-

 _'Stop.'_ Chrom desperately told his thoughts. They didn't listen, and the hazy, nightmare-laced memories crowded his head. Against that, a strange ache settled into his back, and the skin over his shoulders and spine tried to break out in blisters

"Chrom, please help me out here." Robin pressed in on his ears and thoughts. Try as he could, Chrom couldn't close out or veer away from that hazy, insane memory. And Robin didn't notice, or let up. "I feel like I'm looking at pieces of the answer, but can't focus on it-"

"ROBIN, stop!" Chrom shouted to silence the memories. Robin stilled from the volume, like his voice had slammed into her with the force of a push.

She wasn't the only one that reacted to his voice.

Nowi rolled over with a grumble of her own. Not waking, but still jostled from her sleep. The manakete's fingers loosened from the motion, letting a gem slip out of her fist and rest on the sand. It could have been a small cousin to the gemstone Emmeryn had given him, and shined green with an inner flame.

 _'Dragonstone?'_ The word flashed across Chrom's mind, along with an echo of Nowi changing shape. Something about the stone and its glimmer caught and held his eyes... and made his skin _burn._

Sweat beaded on his forehead. Bit by bit the glow burned away the last bits of reality right before Chrom's eyes. His vision and stomach swam, and he barely registered how still Robin had gone.

"I-" She tried to rasp out, but something was wrong with her throat. Just like something was wrong with his heart. It lurched and pounded furiously in his chest, his ribcage almost bending outward from the force of the beats.

Overhead the sky swam around him, strangely inviting if he could just give up his hold on the earth and the furrows his fingers were drawing in the sand. His eyes wouldn't shut against from the glare of the stone, and when he tried to duck his head his back burned in protest.

The green glow cut out. As did the warping in his bones and blood.

Something dark and heavy slammed over the dragonstone, and he lifted his eyes to see Robin pitch over and stretch out in the sand. Her arm froze in a throwing motion, the tactician's cloak gone from her side. His mind finally figured out that the cloth was tossed over the stone to muffle its light.

"Chrom-?" He gave a low groan to show he was still alive.

"Do… do you believe me now?" Robin's voice cracked and rasped on the edges, and her eyes were all white and staring. Chrom blinked and tears stung the edges of his own eyes. A shiver started at the base of his neck and ran all the way down his back, as his body resettled.

He didn't trust his voice. Not after his yell caused... whatever _that_ was. Instead he nodded.

' _You finally have an answer… even if it sounds impossible.'_ He looked away from the cloak and Robin, staring at the dunes until his breathing settled.

Without the walls of the castle around them, without the other Shepherds close at hand, it felt like they were still in a dream; completely uprooted with no solid anchor on anything.

"...I believe you." He finally found his voice. "It... it answers a lot of questions, on what else has happened, too. And it all started months ago,"

"When we got these." Robin finished the thought, looking at the scars crisscrossing their marks. "And everything else that followed. Nightmares, bursts of strength that leave Frederick stunned... and we've both felt something strange while we fight. And it only affects us... otherwise we'd number more than two people lost in a desert, with just two others to help."

Her eyes drifted away from his brand, looking at the sleeping forms of their new allies. Nowi had nuzzled up against Robin's coat and treated it as a make-shift blanket.

"Chrom, if you don't mind me asking... what is a manakete?" Robin asked, looking between him and Nowi. The sudden question threw him off guard, and earned Robin a confused blink. "You said that word when she changed, and it sounds familiar. But I can't place it."

"I... guess I never explained it, when talking about any of the tales." Chrom admitted. "They're shape shifters and descendents of the dragon tribe. Some of them can trace their line back to Naga as well. But either way, they hold the strongest amount of blood. They ARE dragons... but they keep to human form."

Chrom relaxed enough to lean back, putting weight on his unscarred arm. Robin shifted a little closer as she listened, an echo to the night at the inn. The memory was oddly soothing, even with how flustered he'd been at the time.

 _'Telling her these tales... sharing them feels-'_ Right. Like he was giving her something more to share between the two of them.

"They stay human for good reason; being in a dragon's form for too long can cause madness. That may have been why we were attacked by that silver dragon in the very first place." The memory was still sharp in his head, even with the months that had passed.

Robin didn't reply right away, instead looking down at her hand. When she spoke again, her voice was hushed.

"I just had a thought; you said your line is blessed by dragons, right? What if... what if what happened to you is like it is with her?" Chrom slid his eyes shut, letting the thought settle into place instead of pushing against it. This time, his skin stayed blessedly still, and he wasn't tormented by nightmares; just the stories lining up in a new way.

"...The more I think about it, the more this DOES make a strange sort of sense. There's stories about the brands... being favored by the dragons, and being a sign of power."

"Or... a seal." Robin murmured. "So what happens when that seal gets damaged? Does any power start seeping out, without the marks intact to keep it in check?"

One twitch; that was all his shoulder gave, but enough to drive home Robin's words. A weight settled in his stomach to accompany the sensation, and he kept his eyes screwed shut as he wrestled with the idea.

 _'Your father had the same damage to his brand. You've felt your own temper flaring just like his, haven't you?'_

"But... we're human, aren't we?" His voice had gone quiet; barely a whisper above the wind. "Robin... please don't tell or ask anyone about that theory just yet? I- I want to be sure."

"Chrom, what's got you so scared?" His eyes opened to see Robin watching him with a frown.

"You mean aside from the fact I grew wings, and people normally don't do that? You remember the story I told about dragons, don't you? Even in the tales where they're benevolent, they... they can't be with other people." He stared down at his hands. "...Lissa would listen to those stories all the time. I don't-"

He didn't want her to know. Not her, not any of the Shepherds. Memories sprang up of how Lissa would always hide behind him when they were younger. Her hands would tremble as they clutched his arm, and her eyes gone wide. When Chrom pictured Lissa looking at HIM with those same scared eyes, his heart felt ready to stop.

"Chrom..." Robin's soft voice brought him back. That, and her fingers gently skimming over the back of his hand. Her touch formed a soft line that demanded his focus and muted the memories. "I understand; you don't want to lose the people you care about. I think... scratch that, I know I feel the same way."

He turned his palm over so it met hers, and their fingers twined together.

"Hah... it's like you said before." Robin said. "We've got a secret to share, like we're partners in crime. We can be like that again, only this time we'll find the answer together. We'll solve it ourselves."

"You promise?" Chrom asked. She squeezed her fingers around his in response. And just then, he didn't feel so alone everything.

"I promise. You've got that gemstone with you and... something about it seems to help. It'll give us some time to find the answer-" She cut out as Chrom's fingers went tight around her hand.

"The gemstone!" He barely kept his voice hushed. His free hand pawed at the pouch by his side, fingers latching around the silver gem. He lifted it free, and a sudden, desperate idea flashed through his mind at the sight.

"Emm." The name rushed onto his tongue. "We can at least tell Emmeryn. She'd understand..."

He trailed off and turned the silver gem over in his hand. "She insisted I have this, too. Maybe... maybe she has an idea of what's going on? Or what to do?"

His fingers tightened around the gem, clinging to it and the composed image of his sister. She had to be someone they could trust, and someone who could help. If they could only get back to her.

"She- she wouldn't be afraid. I'm sure of it. She was never afraid of those stories, and you saw how calm she was when we reported the dragon. So please-"

"It's alright." Robin's voice came out soft. "And you're right. We just... have a long way to go, before we can get back to Ylisse and the Exalt."

Robin looked out over the sand dunes, trying to calculate the distance.

"And I think trying to grow wings again is out of the question. There wasn't any control from what I can remember. But... maybe things will work out, if we can just make it back."

"That's what I hope." Chrom answered. Hoped and prayed for, now that the idea entered into his head. It would all be well, if they could only get back. And the touch of her hand reminded him he wasn't completely alone.

"Robin... I'm glad you're with me, in this." Her eyes widened at that, and Chrom let go of her hand. "S-sorry! Sorry, that thought just came to me, but-"

 _'But if I have to share the burden with anyone, I trust you the most.'_

Thankfully that didn't make its way to his tongue.

"I... I should wake Gregor up for his watch, and we should get some sleep. Somehow."

Robin at least nodded to that, and echoed. "Right."

It was only when Chrom curled up to sleep that he realized he didn't know what exactly she was agreeing with. Before he could puzzle it out, exhaustion closed over him. And plunged him into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

-o-o-o-

Chrom curled up on his side, facing her and resting on his marked shoulder. He lay as though he could smother the brand and his scar under his weight, and make any complications around either of those things vanish. Robin knew she wasn't much better, with how her left hand covered her right.

The scion of Naga, and a nobody who could have been the by blow of any number of strange alliances. She couldn't remember why she had her own brand… and trying to remember made her feel sick and brought up flashes of falling through a night sky. Of almost hurting Chrom-

She shied away from the questions, though the hazy memories they brought up still followed her.

' _He followed you. You ran, and he followed, because-'_ She didn't want to guess at his motives just then. The thought of being wrong left her cold and feeling pitifully small.

' _It's enough that he cares, isn't it?'_ She desperately told herself. Robin tried to snuff out that helpless feeling and replace it with resolve; she'd repay him for whatever it was he'd done to save her. He wouldn't have to put himself at risk for her again, or reawaken whatever it was stirring in their blood.

The day's events finally overwhelmed any leftover worry in her head. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she sank into sleep-

Only to find herself alone in the dark again. The same hazy, grayed out realm as before. Dread sank into her heart and Robin tried to duck her head. She already had a guess on what would happen; she'd see the sorcerer again in her dreams, and then who knew what she'd wake up to?

' _I don't want to put Chrom at risk again. I don't want to hurt him. Please-'_

"Peace." A voice whispered in her ear. Female, strangely familiar though she couldn't place why. Her head stayed frozen where she'd ducked it, no matter how she wanted to raise it and find the speaker. Instead she was left to focus on a strange warmth the words pushed into her chest, and comforting feeling she found herself wrapped up in.

"My d- I… I remember you. I know you." Her blood wanted to go cold at those words repeating in her ears. But unlike the sorcerer, the voice glided over her ears instead of burrowing into them. "I… glimpsed you before I- but you're still alive. My Robin."

' _How do you know me? Who are you?'_ Robin wanted to ask, but something stilled her throat; more than wanting to know the answers, she just wanted to hear that voice speak to her.

But the voice was also growing faint after just a few words. "He can't reach you out here; I can barely- you are-" The words flickered in and out. "Barriers between life and- are still strong. You have-"

Silence slammed over Robin's ears. In place of the voice, a shimmer of white pushed into her vision; a tiny bright bead that burned the shadows away and left her drifting in a silver haze. She dimly remembered the gemstone Chrom held, and a feeling of peace settled over her mind.

She sunk into a soft dream. Something that left a gentle touch on her skin, but still managed to push a strange ache into her heart. It was a far cry from her half remembered nightmare... but still frustrating, in a way.

For a brief moment the dream lifted, and she hovered half awake in the campsite. Her eyes stung and her fingers bunched into the sand, wanting to hold onto something else. She stared up at the sky, knowing that if she looked over and saw Chrom sleeping nearby, something in her would shatter. Her eyes closed again, exhaustion and heartache pulling her back into dreams.

Shadows didn't haunt her sleep anymore. But the longing that took its place carried just as much pain and frustration.


	16. Fever Pitch

**Chapter 16: Fever Pitch**

Chrom was almost getting used to their sleeping arrangements. The bed of sand, a blanket made from ragged white cape... and his traveling companions. Robin sat close by, head slumped forward to rest on her knees. Her eyes fluttered open and closed, her breathing deep and calmed. She'd been careful in planning their route with Gregor across the last few days, and their rations.

And yet now, they were running low on supplies. The time spent marching was also starting to show on Robin. She was tired, and it was easy to notice among their group.

"I'll go ahead and scout for you guys! You take it easy for the night." Nowi stopped fidgeting long enough to jump up and announce. "Besides, I've been itching to get back into the sky."

She leapt to her feet before any of them could speak. Her fingers clasped the dragonstone, the inside of it glimmering like a tiny green lantern as she held it aloft. Chrom shielded his eyes, just glimpsing magic wrapping itself around her like petals on a flower.

The gold dragon took her place. Without a battle to worry about, Chrom found himself staring at the creature; it was a little smaller than the silver dragon fought in Southtown, if he remembered right. The wings were still impressive enough, turning the night sky into a faint green color as they stretched out against the stars.

Nowi launched upwards with a blast of air that stirred the sand and ruffled his hair. Chrom ignored the grits of sand, watching as the dragon pulled itself up into the air, winging off to the east.

Chrom watched her leave, with star light filling his eyes. The black spaces in the night were deep and yawning... and made a pair of phantom limbs stir in his back, setting his skin to twitching.

"Ugh-" he choked out, and the sound brought him back to the earth. Chrom yanked his eyes back down. He didn't look back up until his head felt firmly rooted back on his shoulders. Even then a longing had moved down into his heart; a strange pull to find his way back into the sky.

 _'Keep it all to dreams.'_ Chrom told himself. _'It doesn't belong in my head while I'm still awake.'_

"Makes you... wonder what it would be like to fly again." Robin murmured and Chrom shivered at the echo of his thoughts. "Not just on a pegasus, but-"

"Avert!" Chrom said, right as Gregor made a disagreeing noise. "S-sorry. That was roughly put. I just... I just want to stay focused on the present right now."

"Gregor is not keen on the flying either. Better saved for those not prone to the stomach quesings. Besides, scout should be back soon- ah. Sooner than expected." At Gregor's words Chrom saw the dragon winging back. That had been a short time and he tensed up, wondering what it meant.

"Good news!" Nowi transformed just before she hit the sand, already chirping with excitement. Her rapid fire words drowned out the initial lurch in Chrom's head when he saw the spell. "I didn't have to fly far at all before finding something neat! There's a town close by; I bet we can reach it tomorrow, and resupply...please?"

She added when she saw Chrom's face. He knew he was scowling, and his brain wasn't shy in offering all sorts of reasons why this was a bad idea.

"We could get caught," Robin spoke up, nearly reading his thoughts again. Chrom was about to thank her for voicing caution... until she continued. "But on the flipside, COULD get caught is less likely than certainly starving in a desert. Which we will do without fresh supplies."

Chrom stared at her, not quite believing what he'd heard. "But-"

"Full bellies make for better fighting spirits. If trouble is deciding to show up again." Gregor added, before Chrom had the chance to try and sway the mercenary to his side.

Chrom looked away, and at their tiny fire like he could conjure more food out of it. His stomach growled, letting him know that wasn't a viable option, and he bent his head in defeat. "Ok, ok. I know when I'm outmatched and people have a point to make. I just hope we can keep enough of a low profile to get what we want, and then get out without any accidents... though if we're going to pull this off, we need rest."

-o-o-o-

 _'He's tense.'_ Robin thought, watching Chrom. He stretched out on the improvised bedding and pillows made from his cape. His eyes stayed fixed on the stars, with a far off look to them.

"Chrom... it'll be fine." Robin heard herself promise. "I've got some ideas on how we can keep a low profile in town; we'll get what we need, get out, and no one will be the wiser."

At her words he slowly turned from the stars, putting his focus on her. That odd, far off look in his eyes stayed the same even while he watched her. But the tension began to drain out of him, and for a moment Robin swore she saw a ghost of a smile cross his face.

"I hope so. You've kept me alive through worse situations."

"Exactly. So try to follow your own orders and get some rest, okay?"

"Okay." The last of his nervousness was buried under his smile, and Robin found herself grinning back.

She slowly leaned back into her own sleeping spot in the sand, pulling her robe close around her to keep the grains and night chill at bay. Resting her head, she found herself looking back at Chrom. His sides moved easily as he settled into sleep.

 _'Hopefully it's good dreams this time around.'_ Thankfully they hadn't had any repeats of what landed them in Plegia in the first place. They hadn't woken up from walking dreams... or in each other's arms.

Robin frowned over the thought, eyes still resting on him. A half memory flickered through her mind, of having his arms back around her, and wanting to move closer.

 _'Wait-'_ She froze at the thought, and the heartache that came with it. The longing and strangely sweet hum in her head wasn't limited to dreams now.

"Oh no..." she whispered. Robin stared at him and a sickening realization crunched into place. This wasn't a light crush after all. She was in love with him; a deep, piercing love that left the inside of her chest aching.

Chrom simply rolled over onto her side, oblivious to the roil in her head.

 _'No. Nonono not HIM.'_ A thousand reasons on why it couldn't be him, of all people, rushed into her mind. He was her commander, of royal blood, there were troops depending on them-

And he was one of her first clear memories. He was someone stable, steady who she could rely on. And the feeling slowly grinding up her insides was anything BUT simple; it made everything more messy, more complicated... and yet, she couldn't bear to snuff it out. The emotion welling up in her was too strong for that, and she wanted to scream.

 _'He's a prince! And-'_ and her friend. Someone who had been there since the beginning. She didn't want to mar that with the complications inside of her. Robin rolled over to her side, but that did nothing to dislodge the longing deep in her chest. It ached, strangely sweet. And absolutely complicated.

"Stupid, stupid brain." Robin muttered, mashing her palm into her forehead. "Brain and heart both... you couldn't leave well enough alone and leave me one uncomplicated thing." Her heart ached in protest, and Robin bit back a groan.

"Robin? Did you say something?" Chrom sat up from where he'd been resting to look at her, and Robin realized she hadn't been as quiet as she'd hoped.

"A-ah. Just complaining about my thoughts. Too busy right now to get any rest." She wondered over how he paused, looking at her, before he answered,

"Yeah, me too. I feel a little better, but... we shouldn't be here, Robin. We belong in Ylisse. I know thinking about it won't get us back any faster, but- agh, I'm going in circles."

"I-I'll take care of you. THINGS for you Chrom." She blurted the promise out. "It's my responsibility, after all."

That was ALL, Robin screamed at her thoughts. Keeping him alive was her responsibility, and she'd do well to focus on it.

 _'Keep it simple.'_ She told herself. A scowl worked its way onto her face, and Chrom blinked at it.

"Well... it's my duty to look after you, too. I think that's why I went after you in the first place-" It was too dark to tell if Chrom was blushing, but she easily picked out the sputter in his voice. "Th-that is to say... yes. Sleep. We should sleep."

Robin only nodded, hitting the dirt at the same time Chrom did. She kept her eyes fixed to the blank side of the sand, but she couldn't push his breathing out of her ears. It echoed in her hearing for the longest time before sleep finally took her.

-o-o-o-

Dawn painted the sky and dunes a rosy hue. Any beauty the scenery had was lost on Chrom.

"Well, you're up early. Did you sleep at all?"

"Yes," Chrom answered, not meeting her eyes. He didn't want to share the details of his dreams just then; dreams of fighting the silver dragon, killing and laying it out on the floor. And then staring down into his own dead face, his eyes still holding a blue glimmer.

 _'Gods, don't think about it!'_ Chrom shoved the dream aside and tried to keep his expression bland and tired.

"I just... have a lot on my mind."

"Right, such as going to town for a shopping trip today." Robin tried for levity but with an odd note in her voice. Chrom noted the dark circles under her eyes; something weighed heavy on her thoughts as well.

 _'But I don't want to risk talking about it.'_ Damn him for being a coward.

"We need to make preparations." Robin continued, shaking herself free of whatever bothered her.

"First off, I don't think we should be walking into anywhere with that in plain sight." Robin pointed to the mark on his shoulder. "And maybe not with your hair or face visible... I don't want to take any chances of anyone recognizing it."

"Then what do you suggest?" Chrom sighed out. "I can't dye my hair or change my face, and last I checked there aren't any spare sleeves in the packs."

He didn't even notice Robin shrugging out of her cloak, until she tossed it over his shoulders. The massive coat was almost a fit for him. Almost. The sleeves still hung down past his hands. Chrom gave to outfit a perplexed smile... but didn't complain.

"Go ahead and shed the cape and pauldron," Robin advised. "We can fit them in the horse's packs and have no one be the wiser. And I'll rouse the others."

Their progress to the village couldn't decide on if it was glacial or lightning speed. Both were agonizing extremes for Chrom, not sure if he wanted to put the encounter off or get it over with. But before he had time to make up his mind, they found themselves at the town entrance.

"Huh. It looks bigger on foot." Nowi offered, looking up at the gates. The walls and the city itself were built from a patchwork of dusty red bricks, offset by swipes of white plaster dotting the structures. The gates themselves were wide open, looking ready to accept an entire caravan instead of their band of four.

Chrom pulled the hood of the cloak a little more over his face, hoping it would mask how much he stared.

 _'This is Plegia?'_ He thought, pushing his feet into the town. The place wasn't quite the fell-mad, seething hive he'd half imagined. He really had been thinking too much like his father, as of late.

This could have been a distant, western town in Ylisse. The same calls for wares and prices filled up the town square. It was Gregor who took the lead on shopping, bargaining between two merchants at once for skins of water and a string of dried sausage. Nowi stuck by his side, earning a few comments from the merchants and town shoppers about 'that loud grandfather taking his granddaughter shopping.' To his credit, Gregor only sputtered over that once, before striking a deal on the wares.

Chrom breathed a little more easily as he watched. No one screamed for their blood, all through the exchange. A few eyes had lingered on him, but seemed more focused on the eye pattern of his borrowed sleeves than anything else.

"You noticed it too?" Robin whispered. "They know that pattern, just like those... those Grimleal did. If I dared, I'd ask."

"Best not push our luck. At least we haven't been eaten alive yet." Chrom murmured to Robin. With her cloak discarded, the tactician looked oddly pale and threadbare. She turned her head to every corner of the town, and a lost look made her eyes dart about.

"I keep waiting to see if something will jar my memory." She admitted, once she saw Chrom watching her. "But nothing so far."

And despite all her searching, her eyes had a habit of constantly falling back to him and lingering on his face. Robin didn't voice why however, instead dropping her voice to a murmur. "I've noticed one thing, though. There's something odd going on here. Have you seen how little haggling the merchants are doing? And how few people are focusing on us as outsiders? I'd thought we'd need to deflect a little conversation, but..."

She was right. A note of apprehension hung over the village like a brewing storm. He and Robin weren't the only ones looking over their shoulders, and yet there was very little in conversation. People were subdued. Wary.

 _'Something has them on edge, but what-?'_

A clamor at the gates stole the rest of his thoughts. A jangle of armor, clinking metal and heavy feet mingling with the snorts of horses. Above all a voice called out "Make way! Make way for your king!"

The heat of the morning snapped out, right as Chrom yanked his head up and turned around.

It was a procession fit for a king. A band of horses stamped through the main street, all in barding and carrying soldiers in armor. Others walked on foot, hands resting on their swords and fingers coiled at the hilt, ready to draw steel.

The crowd of townspeople all scattered like a flock of frightened birds. Some tripped over themselves in their rush to clear the area. And it all happened in hushed scrapings and whispers, as though everyone was afraid of speaking or stepping too loudly, lest someone in the escort take offense. One of the shoppers was too slow in stepping out of the way. The escort on foot seized her roughly by the shoulders, flinging her into the crowd. She fell hard into the ground, dropping her purchases; a clay jar shattered on the cobblestones, spilling a red wine across the ground and stinging the air with the scent of spirits.

The wine soaked the hooves of the horses, causing the beasts to toss their black and red heads in distaste. The gold barding on their reins jingled faintly in the hot desert air. The decoration was mirrored by the handful of mages mounted in the escort, forming a careful semi-circle around two figures at the head of the group. The mage's heads were held high and brows circled in gold, scanning the townspeople with a haughty air.

None of them matched the man at the head of the column, however. He seemed to have perfected the art of looking down his nose at those beneath him. A crown of gold circled his head, the spines on it like thorns curling upwards.

Chrom was dimly aware of Robin next to him, and how she'd gone stiff. His own feet were glued to the ground, and Gregor and Nowi could have been on the other side of town.

"Gangrel." Chrom managed just one word, low and growled under his breath. The word didn't reach Gangrel's ears, nor those of his escort. The Mad King's eyes roved along the crowd, twitching between looking forward and watching people in the corners of his eyes. And always staring down at those beneath him.

Chrom himself was just another shadowed face in the crowd. He didn't know whether to be comforted or outraged over that.

"I ask you to have soldiers ready for me, and a handful of plowboys and old guards is the best you can do?" No voices rose to answer the king. The crowd seemed to shrink back as one, fearful of being caught out in the open.

It left only a handful of people standing, him and Robin among them. Gangrel sent his horse pacing back and forth along the edge of cleared space. A shadow rode behind him; a woman covered head to foot in black cloth and riding an equally dark horse. A smile rested on her lips, as though the entire proceedings were a game to her. Spell books hung at her sides, but she wore them as though they were simple baubles rather than weapons; she showed no inclination to rest her hands on them, as so many of the escort did with their own weapons.

"They seem to require a reminder, my lord." The dark rider all but purred out the words, resting a hand on Gangrel's arm, brushing her fingers along the sleeve. Her words were like a thick, suffocating silk over Chrom's head... and seemed to spur Gangrel on.

"Indeed. Has the reprieve from the last war made you all soft in the head?" Gangrel sneered down from his horse. "Have you forgotten the crimes of Ylisse and their Exalt line? Their king brought a war to us. Claimed US heretics in the name of his god. They stained our lands red with blood. The peace their current Exalt claims is a false one."

Some of the town shrunk back further at his words, trying to duck into doorways... but a few of them kept their heads lifted, stepping in closer to hear his words. The rider by Gangrel's side gestured with a long nailed hand, urging the town to keep all eyes and focus on them.

"Can you trust them? They hoard power to themselves, cling to an artifact they DON'T deserve! The king's ambitions didn't die with him. They line the border with Feroxi sell swords, readying for war."

 _'Lies!'_ Chrom bit the word back. Under the heavy cloth of the robe, his shoulder pulsed.

"And his blood is still present. We've yet to shed the last of it, while his brats remain on the throne. The blonde haired, sweet faced witch claims peace while she sends her brother out with sword in hand! You KNOW they'll continue their father's work!" An uneasy murmur built up in the crowd as they listened.

"How many of you lost families? Were cast down into the gutters from the Exalt's ambition? I see you slugs dragging your feet, thinking it won't happen again." Gangrel rolled his head and eyes for theatrical effect, and let an awkward silence stretch out from his words. None in the crowd dared to answer his statement.

"You are FOOLS. Willfully fools!" Gangrel spurred his horse forward, and his words lashed the crowd.

"The Ylisseans gather like carrion birds on the border, feigning diplomacy. And make no mistake, their pretty words are just that; words. They WILL make war with us, and my soldiers will have better things to do than garrison cowards like you." He curled a lip at the fear his words stirred through the crowd. "When they swarm out of the foothills, your village will be one of the first in their path. And I've no time to play nursemaid to the weak willed."

' _They're on the border?'_ Chrom's eyes stretched wide, and Robin brushed against his side with how she stiffened. Unintentionally, Gangrel had given them a direction.

"So I'll leave you with a choice. By sundown, have your contribution ready; conscripts, volunteers, I don't care. But give me more soldiers, and I will give your town protection. Otherwise, enjoy having the streets run red."

 _'Extortion...'_ The thought hissed into Chrom's head. At Gangrel's words, a few men and women in the village hesitantly stepped forward. Some kept their heads bowed, cowed by the threats. Others looked more eager and gripped at the swords the soldiers handed down to them, like the weapons were a ticket to glory and safety, both. Gangrel simply looked across them and the rest of the crowd with a smug, satisfied smile twisting his lips up.

 _'He's proud of the picture he's painted.'_ Chrom's throat locked up on his own angry glared out from under the cloak's hood at Gangrel. The dark cloth weighed heavy on his skin, trapping the heat burning in his blood and breath. His arms shuddered, and he clenched his hands into fists.

"Hmm...?"

The smug venom fell out of Gangrel's voice for a moment. His horse paused in front of Chrom. The king stared down, eyes resting on the eye pattern on his sleeves. Gangrel's eyes narrowed, and Chrom couldn't bring himself to break his glare.

 _'What are you doing!? Lower your head!'_ Buthis neck stayed stiff, and he swore time stretched out as Gangrel watched. The heat baked at the dark fabric upon his head, and a rivulet of sweat ran down Chrom's neck and shoulders. He never so much as twitched, or broke his stare.

"Who might you be? One of the Grimleal?" Gangrel tilted his head to try and get a better look at him.

Were the shadows deep enough over his face? Suddenly a cloth hood seemed like paltry defense against the king's gaze.

But the worst wasn't that. It was the pounding in his heart, the way his pulse shuddered and screamed for the opportunity to fight... and a part of him hoped that the disguise WOULD fail, just to give him an excuse to fill his hand with steel and go for Gangrel's throat.

"Does fear hold your tongue?"

"I don't answer to you." Chrom snapped out. Robin hissed a warning, but to no effect. If the town square was muted before, it went dead silent now. The air still stung with wine spirits, and each breath he inhaled and exhaled was like a furnace.

Chrom kept his focus on the Mad King, his vision tunneling. Nearby the rider in black gave a throaty laugh at his words; he'd become an amusement to her. And he'd become likewise to Gangrel, with how his lips twisted up.

"...So you do have a tongue. And a sharp one at that. Maybe I should shorten it by a few inches."

A sword slid free from the scabbard at the king's side; the motion was almost lazy as he flicked it point first to rest under Chrom's chin. The blade was jagged, almost like a lightning bolt, and the air seemed to hum and spark around the blade. The humming burrowed into Chrom's ears as the Gangrel raised the blade and forced Chrom to lift his head.

Any moment now and Gangrel would see-

"Back off!" Robin snapped out, stepping between the blade and Chrom. The leather bracers on her wrists weren't much, but she still used them to knock aside the sword. The metal gleamed, catching the afternoon sun as it fell from Chrom's throat. Robin glared over it, snarling defiance at the Mad King.

Bloodlust flashed across Gangrel's face at her interference, and he showed his teeth right back at her in an eager grin. He snapped the blade around to try and cut a line in Robin's shoulder.

The hit never landed.

Gregor's borrowed blade met the jagged sword, sparks flying where the steel met. One cut across Chrom's face in a sharp, searing line. He never flinched from the spark.

Chrom's muscles bunched and he threw his weight against Gangrel. A feral snarl coughed out between Chrom's teeth, and a red haze slammed around his vision.

 _'You NEVER strike at her.'_

Chrom's muscles all twitched and burned as he threw his strength forward, trying to unhorse Gangrel. The swords wavered, and he almost had the man overbalanced-

Then the second was over, and the king's guard rushed in around them. Robin's hand clapped around Chrom's shoulder, forcing him to spring back and away before the guard could encircle them. The soldier's weapons rattled all around them, sounding the world like a desert snake ready to strike.

 _'Let them.'_ Chrom lifted his face up to show his teeth in a feral grin. He met the eyes of Gangrel and his escort, challenge sparking in his blood. _'I can strike just as fast-'_

Chrom's pulse was loud, but it didn't fully drown out a roar from overhead. He'd only heard something like it once before, in the town ablaze. He wrenched his head up right as Gangrel did, to stare into an achingly blue sky and something gold dropping out of it on green wings.

Nowi screamed down with a roar that shuddered the walls and set the plaster to flaking off. The horses reared and bucked as their riders tried to control them. Even the king fought to keep his seat on his spooked horse.

"We have to go, NOW." Robin hissed in his ear and grabbed at his wrist. The touch of her hand cut into the drumming of his pulse. Chrom shook his head and tugged the hood back into place, running for the gates of the city as fast as he could.

He chanced a look over his shoulder and saw Nowi swooping down again, narrowly skimming over the spear points. She flew north, beyond the city with a shriek that seemed to taunt 'come catch me if you can.'

The soldiers and their king must have heard it too, as Gangrel screamed for them to cut her out of the sky. Nowi slipped through the air, dodging just out of range from arrows and spells.

In the back of his mind, Chrom noticed how the dark rider hadn't joined the fray. Instead she watched the proceedings with a strange, enraptured quality to her eyes. Like she'd just been handed a choice sweet, and didn't want to dig into it just yet.

For a moment, her eyes fell upon Chrom and Robin both, and she smirked... and yet did nothing to stop them, or call attention to them. 'Run for now' her eyes seemed to taunt. 'It isn't your time just yet.'

"Hurrying is good right now!" Gregor called out to them, waving to them over the chaos and bodies scrambling around the square. He held the reigns of their own horse, the beast ready to bolt out of the town with or without them.

"GET INTO THE SADDLE!" Chrom yelled at Gregor without thinking. "We can manage, just get going!"

His feet backed up the claim. If he couldn't fight, his body instead dumped all its energy and focus into running.

-o-o-o-

"...Adrenaline?" Robin offered weakly. From the snort Gregor gave her, he didn't believe it for a minute. His eyes rested on her and Chrom, a long, measuring look in them. Whatever was going on behind them, Gregor didn't get a chance to voice it. Not when a rush of air blew at their faces, and the horse found enough strength to offer a tiny buck and start. Gregor held the reigns firm, and Robin twisted around to see Nowi flying in low over the dunes.

When she saw the horse shying, the dragon touched down well away from the group. A blaze of magic wrapped over her, pushing her form back down into something more human shaped. As she watched, Robin felt her own fatigue finally catch up to her, and her lungs started working for breath as she hunched over.

"Hah, you guys sure can move when you feel like it. I had to really stretch my wings to keep up with you." Nowi called out as she ran over to them.

"What was girl thinking? Scales are good defense, but not perfect against so many spears and arrows." Gregor transferred his frown from Chrom to Nowi. The manakete just shook her head, waving off his grumpy look.

"Yeah, IF I let them catch me, but I didn't! I led them on a nice big chase away from you guys, and once the air warmed up enough I caught a thermal to give me some height and take me back to you."

"In short, you gave us a lead... and one we're desperately in need of." Robin wheezed out. Chrom fought just as hard to find his breath, and to stay upright. "Wh-what is our situation, anyway? Did we manage to secure any supplies?"

"Please do not be underestimating Gregor's gift at bargaining. We are having enough to see us through... two days? Three days? Is all good supplies and clean water, too."

"If we have two days." Robin managed. With oxygen pumped back into her lungs, her brain snapped back into speed.

"Now that we're out of harm's way…" Robin yanked her head from Nowi and Gregor to stare at Chrom. "What... on earth just happened?"

Her voice already sounded choked, trying to stay level and failing a little on each word. Gregor and Nowi both heard that and stepped away, leaving just Chrom in her sights.

"Chrom... they may not have seen your face, but they'll remember your actions. What drove you to do that, anyway?" Robin's question was met with a bewildered shake from Chrom. Her cloak slid off of him like a second, shedding skin and pooled on the sand in a tangle of black and violet fabric. The gold of the sands made his flesh look even more washed out, his face drenched in sweat.

"That sword almost took your head off," she tried again. She tried to breathe deeply, only for the memory to play across her head. Heat built in her cheeks. And Chrom still wouldn't speak.

"I promised to take care of you-!" Robin snapped her teeth around the words, but they were already out. Her ears burned from how her voiced cracked and squeaked, and the way her heart went back to aching. "I-I was terrified you would-"

"I'm sorry." He whispered out. His voice was fragile, his body moving like it had just taken a battering, even though he'd take no wounds. But he still stepped closer, and finally looked her in the eyes. And she saw how his own eyes were all white and pupil, save for a thin ring of blue.

And that ring seemed to be burning at the edges, giving his eyes a strange glow.

"I'm sorry." He repeated. The ring of blue grew wider, and the fire dimmed. "But I-I don't know why... I was just... I couldn't let him have his way. I wanted to..." He stared down at his hands, like he couldn't believe what they'd been ready to do. "...Fight him. Or kill him if I could. It... it would've solved a lot of our problems."

 _'And would've killed him too. Chrom would have never walked out of there alive.'_ Her own hands shook, and Robin had to blink her eyes to keep them clear. Tears still threatened to sting them. "Don't... please don't do something so reckless again."

"I don't know what seized me like that..." but his eyes stayed leveled on her scarred hand, and Robin found herself watching his shoulder.

"It happened again... didn't it." Robin whispered low. Chrom's mute nod was her only answer... but also the only one she needed. Robin raised her voice, so Gregor and Nowi could listen. And her words were at last stable. "Then we avoid the towns from now on. And we stay away from Gangrel."

"R-right! We just need to get across the border to Ylisse. We're close, aren't we?" Nowi piped up.

"Likely just a few days riding... if the king doesn't find us sooner." Chrom answered. His shoulders slumped, and he looked well aware of the target he'd painted on his face. "I don't think it'll take long for him to figure out who was challenging him-"

"He'll still have to ride hard to catch up to us." Nowi told them with a smug grin. "And work even harder to find our trail. I wasn't flying low just because it's fun! I tried to wipe out as much of our tracks as possible using the wake from my wings!"

"You..." Robin sputtered out, before giving a helpless laugh. "You're a sly one!"

"Still... We shouldn't linger. I think I have my breath back to keep going, provided we don't have to make another mad dash." Chrom straightened up as he spoke, casting away that haunted look. "Robin... are you fit to travel?"

"If it gets you to safety... yes. I can manage." And she'd do whatever she could to keep him out of Gangrel's reach.

 _'No more getting into danger. Not if I can help it.'_ Robin promised herself as Chrom turned to the others.

 _'I'll keep him safe.'_ She promised again. _'That's all I have to do as his strategist... and nothing more.'_ And if she kept focusing on that, she could dull the panicked pounding of her heart from seeing the sword at his neck, the ache in her chest... and the strange pain that had been growing in her hand.


	17. Captive

**Chapter 17: Captive**

The next days blended into long treks across the desert, with either a hot and pressing sun at their back, or a gentle moon hovering overhead with a silky white light. Sleep mostly eluded them, their feet too busy with keeping their lead on any Plegian forces. Whenever they DID get time to sleep, it was in a deep, heavy slumber that no dreams or nightmares could pierce.

In a way, Chrom was grateful for it. He took the first couple of watches, and each time he did Robin never rose up again to leave. Instead she stayed curled nearby him... and something about her presence made the watches go by more easily. He wondered if it was the same for her; he'd often wake up and see her within close reach. With the rest of their party, Gregor sprawled out on the sand, claiming it 'is helping with keeping the heat down.' And Nowi... he'd heard from her own mouth that she'd seen an incredible amount of years, but with how she acted it was hard to believe it.

"You kind of stop counting after the first one hundred," she'd told him once he woke up to seeing her using Robin as a pillow, and sputtered over it. "Besides, you two are good headrests; there's something... nice about you. Kind of familiar in a way."

That had just been this afternoon, when they'd woken up for another march as the heat died out. Now the sun was at their backs, and their shadows stretched long across the dunes. Chrom's eyes were beyond their cast shadows and turned at something on the horizon. It was a large and jagged mass that had been shimmering in the heat all day. In the dying light, the shape was finally resolving into clear detail.

"Mountains," he sighed out. "That has to be Ylisse's eastern border. We're almost back home."

He turned to their newest companions.

"Thank you for your help, and your company... and your guiding." And for not abandoning them due to an attack on a king, but he didn't want to remind anyone of that. Not when they were so close to the border, Robin was relaxing, and Gangrel was turning into a simple memory.

"Is as Gregor said; reward is plenty motivating. Though... perhaps Gregor may be proposing a more long term contract? So far Prince has been making for MUCH better company than previous employer."

"Yeah, and maybe I could stay around too? I wanna meet all those people you and Robin talk about!" Nowi added, and Chrom gave a helpless smile at that.

"I'm not going to turn either of you down; the Shepherds could use all the help they can get with all the trouble we seem to coax. Maybe we can-" his words trailed off as he picked out something beyond the next dune. Dust rose up in a grainy mist, clouding into the red stained sky.

"...Horses?" Robin stepped up, craning her head forward for a better look. Caution laced into her voice. "More than one if the amount of dust is any indication... and moving fast with how much more is getting thrown into the air."

Chrom's fingers flexed one at a time, going for Gregor's borrowed sword. Robin's boots scuffed the sand as she muttered through potential plans.

"HAH! If they think they can take us, they got another thing coming; don't worry, I've got this one." Nowi jumped forward. "Robin's not the only one with good eyes; I can focus in on them, just watch!"

She hummed in the back of her throat as her eyes focused on three specks cresting the dune ridge. Forward scouts, from the numbers. People they could definitely take in a fight before their main force appeared.

"Okay, yep. Definitely moving towards us... one rider per horse... huh, they don't LOOK very blood thirsty. Unless the bad guys are starting to field boys and girls both. And can you even bludgeon someone with a healing staff?"

"A what?" Chrom started, forgetting about the sword and a potential fight. "What else do you see? What do they LOOK like?"

"Huh? Well, one red haired boy with a pointy hat, two girls with blonde hair- HEY!" Nowi yelped out as Chrom bolted past her. Gregor shouted something about caution, but Chrom didn't listen. From the steps pounding behind him, Robin was fast on his heels. Chrom's feet tripped and skidded down the dune from how fast he ran. The second he reached flat ground he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"LISSA! LISSA! OVER HERE!" His voice spurred the riders into a ground eating gallop. Robin reached him just before the horses reined up in front of them, and a girl in yellow tumbled free of the saddle.

"Oh gods you thick headed, rash... dummy! Thank gods you're okay!" Lissa crashed into his chest as she spoke. "What happened!? We've been looking for you for nearly a WEEK and we find you right on the border in Plegia!?"

Unease sunk into his back at the question, setting into a quick twitch and itch between his shoulder blades. Worry gnawed him as he looked Lissa in the eyes. He shoved those feelings back with words of his own.

"Forget about me, what are YOU doing out here?" He managed to squeeze out around the vice like grip at his sides. Gods, but he forgot how tight his sister could hug when she put her mind to it.

"Searching." Maribelle answered. "We've been combing the countryside westward from Ylisstol after you vanished in the middle of the night. We found ourselves all the way up to the Plegian border with few to no leads."

"Yes, but what are you doing in Plegia?" Chrom demanded. He let a scowl crease his features, worry over himself morphing into concern for them.

 _'Putting themselves on the line.'_

"Technically, we're in a more nebulous part of the border; it's a little hard to define if we're in the country or not; the last settlement we had to mark what was and wasn't Ylisse got burned a few weeks, after all." The boy in the wizard robes answered.

"Ricken..." Chrom narrowed his eyes on him.

"We can handle ourselves! We managed to sneak away from Frederick to do some scouting, didn't we? AND we found you!" The young wizard didn't let himself get deterred, giving Chrom a long look.

"Speaking of which, you haven't answered what you're doing out here..." Lissa said. And still not giving him a lot of breath to speak with. He went still under her question, staring at her face. The setting sun cast dark shadows under her face, and made it all too easy imagining her flinching away from him.

 _'How do you explain any of what happened?'_ His shoulder started to throb out of spite. And his words dried up in his mouth as he tried to think of something to say. Something that didn't tie into dragons.

"I-it was me." Robin spoke up for them both. The three young scouts all snapped their heads to her. "It was because of me. I think... I think something about the assassins shook me up that night. Maybe the after effects of a spell; Chrom went after me to stop me from doing something stupid and only JUST managed it."

"Darling..." Maribelle gave her a strange look. "You're very key to us, but what possessed you to-?"

"It was the sorcerer." Chrom rushed to supply. "Like Robin said; he's at fault, and was the one who likely pushed something strange into her head."

That got Maribelle to settle. Lissa however, didn't look convinced. Her eyes and lips narrowed as she looked at him, questions still lurking behind them.

"Ah- and on the bright side, we've met some new friends." Chrom rushed to quiet any awkward questions about how he caught up to Robin, or how quickly they'd reached Plegia. "You should meet Nowi and-"

"OY! Many regrets for breaking up cheerful reunion, but Gregor is noticing something to north and west. Does not look like more friendly faces." Lissa let go of Chrom at that, and her face went pale.

"Um, guys...? Maybe we should get back on the horses and ride HARD. Save the explanations for later." Chrom followed her sight and swallowed. There was something on the horizon; something that looked a LOT like armed troops.

 _'They stole a march on us.'_

He didn't argue; instead he swung up into the saddle and reached down to give Lissa a hand up. Maribelle pulled Robin up as well, and Gregor climbed onto their own horse.

"What about the girl-?" Lissa started to say, right before a blinding flash took Nowi's place. His sister breathed in hard and gave a strangled squeak when she saw the dragon flying up into the air. Chrom pushed the reins into her hands, focusing on getting to the mountains.

That, and ONLY that.

-o-o-o-

The green and gold banners of Ylisstol stirred in the growing dark, giving Emmeryn a sense of home away from home. Each one of the banners had carefully been placed as markers for territory; another foot forward and they could easily be seen as invaders instead of a diplomatic outpost. Their camp was just inside the Ylisstol borders, and could still be seen as peaceful.

The fact that it sat on a major crossroads into the mountains was mostly coincidence. Or at least looked enough like one. It helped mask the amount of people coming and going... and the growing amount of arms getting stockpiled in the tents.

Emmeryn sighed at the thought, keeping her eyes trained towards the setting sun. It felt strange to be doing her brother's work in readying for battle. All the more reason to pray for his return, and soon.

The last of the sunlight glinted off the item she cradled in her hands. Everyone had raised a fuss when she brought it with her... but Emmeryn had remained adamant. The Emblem weighed curiously light in her hands; odd for such a burden to carry so little, real weight.

She gazed down at the shield, wondering. Instead of her own reflection she swore she could see her brother staring down at it, from so many nights ago. His face had been creased with worry, fatigue, and something heavier than the cape and pauldron resting on his shoulder.

Whatever had plagued him, the Emblem had eased some of it. And she hoped it could soothe him again. IF she could pass the Emblem on to him.

 _'I only hope it is less of a burden for you to carry, and more of a blessing.'_

A shadow drifted across the Emblem, dimming its golden glow. Emmeryn lifted her eyes from the treasure to see a spectacled face gazing down at it.

"Hierarch." She greeted him in a single word. He dipped his head when he realized her eyes were on him.

"Ah, Exalt... your pardons." His own gaze didn't linger on her, and his eyes couldn't seem to settle on one place.

"Ill at ease?" Emmeryn asked, and she swore he flinched at the question.

"Restless. The absence of the prince weighs on me. I begin to fear that he may never... ah, never mind, Exalt. Dark thoughts from a tired mind, nothing more."

 _'So why does he look so battered and worn?'_ The strength of her mentor seemed almost diminished in the fading light.

 _'Tricks on the eyes. Nothing more.'_ Emmeryn tried to tell herself. She watched the Hierarch drift away, wondering at the nervous jitter in his hands and the way he was always looking over his shoulder. Chrom's absence may have affected him even more so than her. She'd heard him murmuring something about dark omens, and dark times.

"Exalt..." she didn't turn to Frederick's voice, but still dipped her head to acknowledge his presence.

"I was just waiting for you to finish your rounds. Any news to report?"

"Yes..." But his voice was thick with worry, and a touch of guilt. "I am sorry. Lissa and two others slipped our lines. I tried to impress on them how poor of an idea it would be to venture any further west-"

"I don't blame you, Frederick. Lissa has been restless since Chrom left. She is likely following her heart."

"But not her head. I wish both of them would give that more attention." A laugh bubbled up from Emmeryn's throat at that.

"Yes, but would they be the same people I love?" Frederick sighing through his nose told Emmeryn just how vexing those people could be. "Frederick... thank you for your concern, all the same. And company. I pray they'll make their way back, and soon-"

A shout from the guards drew her attention. But before her ears ever made out the words, she saw them; a few figures on the desert sands. Lissa, Maribelle, and Ricken, all carrying passengers... and the dragon following them was the least astonishing thing.

Chrom and Robin were hunched in the saddles, their posture showing they were much worse for wear since she last saw them. They charged down one scrub filled hill and began to climb another, riding desperately for the camp.

"They're-" she didn't get time to feel relief. Emmeryn saw the host dotting the horizon and bearing down on them. The troops were thick, all armed to the teeth... and easily faster than her family. Lissa and her friends had driven the horses hard already, and they still had more distance to close.

As she watched the horses, Emmeryn wondered over why they didn't overtake the Ylisseans... until she saw that they were intentionally riding wide. They meant to circle her family and cut them off before they could ever reach the camp. And many of those were facing the camp, howling for Ylissean blood and trying and cut off any reinforcements.

"This is an attack on two fronts... but how did they know to mass for an attack here?" Frederick murmured, his fingers tightening on the silver lance. "Unless... is there a traitor among us?"

"We must dwell on that possibility later, and defend ourselves first. Frederick, send orders to Phila. I want as many mounted troops as possible riding out to help them, before the Plegians close the gap."

As Frederick dashed off, she secured another soldier with a new set of orders.

"You, please lend me your assistance for but a moment. I need help in readying my own horse."

-o-o-o-

"Please, _please_ try to go faster!" Lissa begged her horse and the poor thing snorted for air. Chrom shifted in his place behind her, and bit out a curse when he looked over his shoulder.

"They're gaining on us!" Lissa groaned when she heard him. Ahead, a new group of dark shapes boiled across the sand; another contingent of riders detaching from the force to close a noose on them.

Behind them, the hoof beats of their pursuers faltered.

"They're milling." Robin narrowed her eyes, and Lissa followed her gaze back. The horses had dropped down from a headlong gallop, stamping up sand as they reared and danced in place. "Waiting for something, or someone."

Overhead, the dragon that had been Nowi gave an alarmed shriek. Lissa flinched from the noise, but still forced herself to look up. Nowi pulled her wings in close and dropped from the sky. A heartbeat later three dark, winged shapes cut through her old place in the air.

"...Wyverns. This day just keeps getting better, huh." Lissa muttered. Nowi pulled out of her dive and back winged with a wash of wind, holding her place just about their heads. Over her churning wings, Lissa picked out the winged creatures. Two of them flanked the lead wyvern, and the figure seated atop the beast.

Their general was a gaunt faced man with a hard look, and an imposing posture. Perched on the back of a wyvern only doubled the effect.

"General Vasto, hold! Hold your swords!" A voice shouted.

 _'A familiar voice. But it can't be-'_ Lissa stared as she saw the Hierarch riding out to the meet the Plegian host. The priest never even glanced at her and Chrom, focused entirely on the Plegian forces.

"You cannot attack yet-"He went shock still in the saddle, staring at the arrow sprouting from his chest. A second later the creak of bowstrings drawing reached Lissa's ears. The Hierarch stared up at the Plegian archers, gasping for breath and mouthing the word 'why.'

"Why!?" Lissa did one better than mouth it, earning a sharp laugh from General Vasto.

"Oh, he sold you out for many reasons. But the main one was to save his own miserable hide; it seems like walking corpses and a dragon infestation makes even priests doubt their country, and wonder if they've been forsaken. And he has, by everyone." Vasto turned with a sneer to the old man.

"You aren't much of a spy, and even less of a man." The general growled out. "We don't spare either types of incompetents."

"But you-"

"Promised you safety, if you delivered the Exalts and their Emblem. You did neither; your whispers and messages didn't deliver the prince even when he was in our own lands. And I see no treasure on you. You never delivered."

Another arrow slammed into the Hierarch's chest. Time slowed as he slumped out of the saddle and hit the sand with a limp, lifeless thud.

"So have your other due." Vasto didn't even watch as the Heirarch, died, turning his eyes to them.

"Now, as for you..." Lissa coiled up, wondering if she could yank herself and Chrom out of the wyvern's path if they decided to dive on them-

An angry shriek cut that thought off, followed by a blaze of crystal-bright fire. Chrom went shock still behind her as the flame smashed into the forward riders trying to circle them. The riders fell and the horses bolted as Nowi surged back up into the air.

Lissa's fingers went numb as they gripped at the reins, palms sweating at the sight of an angry dragon.

The dragon's head swayed on a long neck, another gout of flame shooting out of the gaping jaws. It sent the wyverns back winging into the air as she surged up to meet them. Her talons locked with one wyvern, yanking the beast out of the air and hoisting herself further up.

"Darling, please do me a favor and _ride hard now!_ " Maribelle called out as she spurred her horse forward. "This is the only chance we'll be given, and I'd hate to squander it."

"R-right! Right!" Lissa answered, spurring her own horse towards the gap. Overhead Nowi wheeled with the remaining wyverns, fighting for her place in the air.

-o-o-o-

Robin held on tight to Maribelle; every step the horse took jostled her, and she wondered at how her teeth hadn't rattled out of her skull yet.

"Please don't fall of the horse, dear. I can't promise that I can pull you back up if you do." Maribelle said in her ear. Robin leaned into her shoulder and tried to hold on. There was a blur of green and gold across the dunes. Ylisse's campsite was just visible, looking well fortified against any force; acting as a beacon and a safe haven if they could just reach it.

But...

 _'No, not now! Not now!'_ She could feel it; a familiar fever building up in her. The heat seemed determined to make up for only simmering during the confrontation with the Mad King, and blazed across her face. She watched as Nowi flew forward, and a part of her felt like it was getting pulled to the sky, towards the dragon. She forced her eyes to slide back to where Chrom was, and saw that he wasn't faring much better with how slack he sat in the saddle. He nearly crushed Lissa with how he leaned against her.

"We're almost there!" Lissa shouted over the drumming of hooves. "Just hold-!"

A hiss of arrows cut off her words. A flurry of wood and fletching flew over their heads and slammed into the soldiers pursuing them. Two of the wyverns shrieked and faltered from their place in the air; Nowi made sure they wouldn't be able to catch back up with a well timed swipe of her talons and tail lash.

Ahead Robin made out a small contingent charging from the camp and smashing into the second wing of soldiers. Between a sudden clash of steel and arrows, the charge stopped; the noose didn't close on them fully.

"Cover their retreat!" Frederick's voice reached her ears, and Robin almost DID slump out of the saddle, this time in relief. Frederick was there. He could give them room, and it wouldn't matter how her skin was trying to burn up. They could still-

The sky above them opened up with a vicious blaze of thunder. It struck straight through Robin, stopping her heart for an instant. Maribelle's horse gave a scream, echoed by the other horses. A second later she heard a deafening peal of thunder, followed by a dull crunch of bodies hitting the sand as the world turned sideways.

A hail of arrows launched from Ylisse's forces, silencing the Plegian spell casters before they could fire again. But that still left Robin's group struggling in the dirt. Sand bit at Robin's fingertips, her hands uselessly scratching against the ground. Her arms shuddered under her own weight, and her vision swam, shimmering as though she was looking through a heat haze.

Lissa, Maribelle, and Ricken had better luck finding their feet. Gregor lurched upright with a sword already in his hand. He kept himself between the Plegians and Robin, careful blade work holding the enemies at bay. Chrom trembled in the dent he'd torn into the ground, managing to hold himself up on a shaking arm but nothing else.

Overhead Nowi wheeled in the sky. Robin's head craned up as she tried to keep the dragon in her sights. Watching Nowi, the pins and needles in her arms finally cut out. She hauled herself up onto her knees, right as Nowi flicked a talon out and hooked into the final wyvern's wing. With a yank she sent it tumbling end over end, the general clinging to the saddle.

Robin tracked their path with her eyes... and finally realized that they were on a crash course towards her group.

"MOVE!" Her voice cracked over the word. Lissa and the others didn't hesitate to dive out of the way... but Robin's own limbs were determined to work against her. She barely staggered to her feet as the wyvern filled up the sky-

Something slammed into her back, and she caught a glimpse of blue hair. She and Chrom tumbled over each other, away from the wyvern crashing into the dust and tearing a line in the sand. The beast came to a rest with a groan, its tail feebly twitching.

The general was another matter entirely. Vasto glared up at Nowi, snapping orders for his archers to train their arrows on her. The manakete pushed herself into the sky, barely avoiding arrows trying to puncture her hide and wings.

It looked for a moment that the arrows would find chinks in Nowi's armor, until a well timed wind blast knocked the shafts out of the sky. Ricken muttered something under his breath as he gestured, his fingers tracing glowing spell script in the air. The winds shrieked and plunged back into the Plegians, clearing the skies and replacing arrows with screams.

Vasto's eyes narrowed as they fixed on Ricken, and he remembered the presence of their group. With a curt gesture he forced the remaining troops to draw in on them. The Plegians did so... but with a ragged, staggering quality to their steps. Hesitant to close with Gregor and the spell caster behind him, no matter how Vasto cursed them.

But the forces were slowly gathering up their courage, as Ricken faltered and fumbled for another spell, and it became clear Lissa and Maribelle were unarmed.

Chrom fought back to his feet, leaning on the iron sword. His sides heaved from the effort, his eyes strangely glazed. Robin was an echo of it, her own breath coming hard and ragged. Her shivers mingled with sweat on her skin, her focus fraying with each breath.

"Not so strong without your treasured heirloom, Prince?" Vasto sneered. "Spill his blood as much as you need to; we only need him and the smallest wench barely alive to barter for the Fire Emblem."

Robin struggled to her feet, her balance pitching and trying to give out. But she still saw how Vasto's eyes rested on her, considering her... and then dismissing her.

"Kill the rest."

"NO!" Chrom threw himself towards Robin, arm snapping out and across her as a shield. A spear hissed through the air and punched through his armor, burying into the flesh of his shoulder with a wet slam. Robin's pulse froze, and time lurched to crawl as Chrom slumped to his knees.

"Chrom? CHROM!" Lissa screamed where Robin's voice went still. The troops closed in and she struggled to reach them. "I-I can't heal anyone without breathing room! Please, someone do something before Chrom-"

Chrom wavered, until his eyes fell on Robin and Lissa. His hand tightened on the javelin and wrenched it out of his shoulder with a sickening squelch. Blood splattered the sand. He gave a few weak, threatening swipes to try and keep the attackers away, but he was still losing space.

"Robin, eyes up and catch!" Ricken's voice squeaked out, yanking Robin's head up. Her hand snapped out and snatched a book out of the air, before her eyes could even register that Ricken had thrown it. The pages flew open underneath her fingers, the world racing back up to speed. Robin's eyes slid shut against the fighters for one moment, to focus and tap the power in the pages.

The spell snapped out of her fingers with a rush of heated air. It was less an attack and more of a small explosion. Her eyes opened up to see a gout of flame throw the Plegians back several paces, and punched a hole through their ranks. Soldiers screamed, burned, and her stomach lurched as she watched.

The spell gave Chrom that little bit more room to fully stand up. For an instant Robin saw a twitch run along his good arm, as he gripped at the sword. Vasto still watched Robin, displeasure marring his features.

"DAMN YOU! KILL THE STRATEGIST! Kill-!" The sneer on Vasto's face went out. A blade and hilt seemed to sprout from his throat. Chrom's sword had found its mark... but the prince himself wavered where he stood, as if the throw had taken all his strength. The soldiers milled around them, disorganized for a moment by the loss of their commander.

It would be only for a moment, Robin knew. And she couldn't do anything more; something about the linger flames devoured her concentration, and stirred a scalding sensation across her veins. Around them the sun blazed one last time, turning the world red... and the color burned its way into her vision.

Chrom gave a scream, right as Robin's blood turned to fire. He collapsed and curled in on himself, and she saw how his body shuddered and twitched. It was a perfect mirror to what she felt; her muscles wrenched, trying to twist themselves into a different shape. Her heart pounded in her ears, urging her to let go of her control-

"Put them up on my horse! Get the others to safety!" A voice cut into her ears, and she lifted her head to see Emmeryn standing over them.

 _'How?'_ Robin stared at the Exalt's face. It took several blinks for Robin to remember the gap she'd personally burned in the Plegian forces.

"Hang- going to- I promise-" Whatever Emmeryn said was lost. Her ears didn't work, but Robin's eyes didn't miss a familiar golden glint in the Exalt's grip.

Emmeryn knelt down and pushed something into Chrom's hands. By pure shock his fingers closed around it... and his shudders subsided. Robin picked out the shape of the Emblem. Slowly, the thunder in her ears died.

"Emm... what are you-" Chrom managed to wheeze out. His head listed to the side.

"I promised Lissa I would get you back safely, Chrom. I'm going to use the Emblem to do that now. Frederick, get them onto horses and out of harm's way."

Robin followed Emmeryn's gaze up to where Frederick sat in the saddle. He was pulling Lissa into the saddle of a barded horse that could've been Emmeryn's, but froze at the Exalt's words. A stricken look crossed the knight's face, and Lissa looked ready to protest too.

"But-"

"I am ORDERING you to do so. My guard will see me safely out." Haze drifted over Robin's eyes, and her own protests died in her throat. Frederick grabbed her and Chrom both, one in each arm, and hauled them into the waiting arms of riders.

"Hang in there," a soft voice reached her, along with gentle hands. Robin faintly recognized Sumia's blurred out face.

The last thing she saw was Emmeryn standing with her soldiers, facing the oncoming foe. Then Robin's eyes rolled back, and a welcoming blackness closed over her, chasing the last of the battle fever away.

-o-o-o-

His vision was strangely blurred, like looking through a curtain of mist. His body alternated between too heavy to lift his head, and curiously light. The one constant thing was heat running through his skin.

Through the haze Chrom caught a glimpse of his hands. They looked oddly small, and clutched around the hilt of a practice sword.

"Chrom..." A voice, younger than Lissa's but full of authority glided through the fog. With it, the scenery started to go solid, resolving into a fine groomed lawn, walled by pale bricks.

 _'Ylisstol-'_ he had time to think, before the voice continued. "You need to stop practicing for a candle mark. Delegates arrived from the southern territories; you should be present to greet them."

His eyes fixed on a young figure, clothed in white and gold. Her features were half finished, but still managed to put on a serene expression. Or serene enough when dealing with him.

His breath came out in a snort, and his mouth rattled off words without Chrom doing anything.

"You want to go to council, fine." They squeaked out in a boy's voice. "I want to practice for REAL battles; not sit around in some dusty chamber."

His sister shook her head. "You're of age, Chrom. You need to start acting the part as an heir-"

"YOU'RE going to be the Exalt! You practice diplomacy." He shot back. "I'm gonna be a warrior. Like father."

"Even warriors need to know how to lead, little brother." He crossed his arms in response, stubbornly looking away. A long suffering sigh reached his ears. "...What if I asked one squires to help train with you, after the meeting? I believe his name is Frederick, and he's a promising up and coming fighter."

His head whipped back around, ready to squeak out an agreement to those terms. But when he looked to the place his sister was standing, she was gone. A strange weight settled into his stomach, and the scenery flickered out.

"...Emm?" Chrom's words groaned out through a dry throat, back in his own, full grown voice.

 _'A dream-'_ He just managed to think, as he tried to lift his head up from the cot.

Sweat stuck to his skin and a low grade fever burned through his body. He blinked his eyes with mixed results, focusing on a dimly lit tent. And empty save for him. No sign of Robin, Lissa, or-

"EMM!" His throat ached as the name rushed out. His body bolted upright, and the fire squirmed into two points in his shoulders. One was a wound wrapped in gauze, still healing. The other-

 _'The damned scar can wait!'_ He screamed at himself, and lurched out of the tent. He stumbled out into a night draped campsite. Stars glimmered overhead, and torches gave Chrom light to stagger through. All the while his head yanked around, desperately searching for some sign that Emmeryn was at the camp.

Soldiers spotted him, but something in his eyes held him back. A low murmur stirred through the ranks, soaking into the camp. There was an uneasy edge to the voices, and all of the people watching him.

None of them were who he looked for. His gaze swept over them, and then settled on the largest tent in the camp, one lit up from inside like a giant cloth lantern. He pushed his feet towards it, all of his concentration fixed on the opening.

 _'She has to be there. She has to-'_

He stumbled through the opening, only to slam into Frederick. The knight's eyes went wide, while his hands managed to grab Chrom by the shoulders before the prince keeled over.

"Milord, what are you doing-?"

"Where's Emm?" Chrom cut him off, staring around the command tent. He saw Virion and Gregor starting up from battle plans, Phila half standing... but no sign of his older sister. His throat went tight, and his eyes burned.

"I saw her standing against the Plegians!" He choked out. Nausea gripped his stomach in tight, fearful claws. He didn't miss how Frederick wouldn't meet his eyes, shame clouding the knight's face.

"She... gave orders. We thought her guard would be enough, until the enemy brought in heavier horses. And archers to cancel out our pegasus-" Phila began... but still didn't answer his question. Or look at him.

"Gods dammit all, where is she!?" His voice cracked on the last words. A burn spread across his back, screaming at him to lash out at something-

"...Alive." A voice rasped from behind him, and he twisted to see Robin moving through the crowd. Her arm was draped over Lissa, who guided Robin towards him and gave the strategist room to lift her head and speak. "Th-think for a moment, Chrom. If she was dead, the camp would be in complete disarray. She's alright..."

"Your strategist has the right of it. She's alright for the time being." A familiar, strong voice yanked Chrom's attention back up. Just beyond Robin, a figure in red armor strode through the crowd, a sword slung over her shoulder as she glanced around, measuring up the force of the camp. Flavia watched him, and Chrom forced himself back into composure.

"So you're alive after all; good. I had my worries, and set out when I heard you were missing. And now, I ride ahead of my main force; the old bald oaf is leading the rest. We've had a few scouts and spies afield, and they tell me that the Exalt is alive. Plegia KNOWS she is too useful as a bartering chip or trap bait to kill her outright." That threatened to shoot red into Chrom's vision. His hands balled into fists, wanting to fight SOMETHING... while his legs shook like they could barely hold himself up or contain his anger.

"Chrom, sit down. That goes for you too, Robin; you don't do your Halidom much good by fainting on the spot." His knees listened to Flavia's advice, even if the rest of him felt like a wound spring. With a heavy _thump_ he heard and saw Robin sit down on a supply crate, while Frederick guided him into a second box.

"I believe what the Khan is saying is this; we have time." Frederick said. "Perhaps not much before Plegia acts... but enough to form a plan and lead troops into it. IF you are up to the task."

"I..." Chrom forced himself to breathe in through his nose and THINK. "...I can be. For Emmeryn's sake. R-Robin, are you?"

He finally got a good look at the strategist. She looked just as exhausted from the fight, tremors still coursing through her body. Hand clapped over her scar, trying to hold her arm steady.

"Robin...?" Chrom tried again, and rubbed at his own shoulder.

Looking at her, Chrom felt the heat finally die out of his blood. Robin's eyes found his, and her head finally lifted up enough to fully look at him.

"I- give me a night to rest, and I'll be ready. I promise you that." Flavia nodded at that, looking satisfied.

"Feroxi troops will be here by first light. Not many, but still enough to augment our forces."

"It will be enough." Robin promised. "I'll think of something; we WILL get Emmeryn back, Chrom."


	18. Sandstorm

**Chapter 18: Sandstorm**

From the outskirts of the camp, she watched them gather. She crouched just beyond the torchlight and eyes of the guards, and strained her ears to overhear conversation. From that she heard the plans of mobilizing two forces.

Those forces made their way through the desert with a surprising swiftness; a small detachment of warriors, carrying whatever supplies they and their horses could manage. Moving parallel to them was the main host, traveling much more slowly... and obviously.

Marth shook her head when it clicked into place on the third night, and the forces diverged even more. As far as plans went, it wasn't a bad one; the main force was brazen, picking fights with whatever Plegian patrols they could find, while marching towards the capital.

But the smaller force was what held her interest; that was where the prince and all the Shepherds traveled. They only moved when they were certain eyes wouldn't be upon them, eating up the distance. If she hadn't been keeping careful track of them, they might have vanished even from her gaze.

She sometimes caught snatches of the other Shepherds in that unit; seeing Lissa spending company with Vaike, Lon'qu and Maribelle, and how her eyes lost the hunted quality when she was among others. Glimpsing Ricken practicing with the new sell sword and drilling himself in fast spell casting. The pegasus knights holding afternoon lunches and meetings with the cavalry.

And where she could manage, she sometimes stole glances of two figures in particular. She watched a woman make her rounds among the troops, a cloak drawn close around her shoulders... and a hood often over her face whenever she retreated into her own head to plan. And a lord in the making who still wasn't ready to step into the role of a full fledged leader. He prowled the grounds just as restlessly as the tactician, with a golden shield strapped to his back and a sword returned to his side. From the way he clutched the hilt, he never wanted to lose the blade again... and would have gladly used it to cut through all the problems facing him, if only he could. The two often moved through the camps, but their paths rarely crossed. And their restlessness only increased with each day, no matter how hard they'd been marching.

And through all of that, Marth felt the beginnings of dread tighten inside her chest... for she could never recall any of this happening before. Every night the two spent apart, the more her own heart turned into an iron weight.

The same weight couldn't be said for her feet. Beyond camp she was a blue shadow gliding over the dunes. And every time she left camp and went looking for a problem she COULD solve with a sword, Marth managed to find something.

Most of the Plegians she found, she set on false trails. Only a handful of times did she encounter bands small enough to pick off.

It was draining work. Either outrunning patrols on wild and fruitless chases, or collapsing in exhaustion after a pitched fight. Maybe she could fight the living as easily as she could fight Risen... but that didn't mean she liked it.

 _'It's them... or Emmeryn. And it CAN'T be Emmeryn, after everything we've done.'_ And it helped the Shepherds. Even if they didn't realize it. Marth reminded herself of that as she lifted her head up from the last bit of bloody work.

 _'I hope the Shepherds can stay safe.'_ Marth looked back as she thought that. It occurred to her just then that thanks to her efforts, there'd been barely any fighting for the main troops.

What if that was why Chrom was so on edge? The thought of him NEEDING combat to vent steam made her feel ill at the thought-

And she had no time to dwell upon it anyway. Not when the massive gout of sand ahead demanded all her focus. It blocked the Shepherds from view in a wall of dust.

The sandstorm howled with a force that suggested it wasn't only wind fueling it. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, feeling a familiar press of magic teasing at her skin like electricity lingering around a thunderstorm.

Marth wrapped her cape around her nose and mouth, and crouched near a collection of old bleached dragon bones to help shield her from the storm. She shut her eyes against the roar of grit and wind.

She didn't pray for her own safety just then; she'd endure as she always did. What she did pray for was that what she did was enough, for Emmeryn, for the Shepherds, and the two lonely figures in the camp.

-o-o-o-

"...Is it over? Can I finally talk without spitting sand?" Lissa tugged at the scarf around her face and blinked up. The sky had lost its muddy, grainy quality, replaced instead with a deep blue from the oncoming night.

At the front of the line, Ricken closed his spell book with a heavy thud and sighed in relief. His shoulders slumped from the effort of casting wind spells. Miriel simply tapped her glasses free of any spare sand grains. Directing sandstorms seemed almost rote to her.

"Breathe easy, Lissa. The storm has passed and we managed to skirt the worst of it." Robin stepped up beside her as she spoke. Her hood had also been pulled up against the grit in the air, and she only now tugged it back to let her hair drift a little in the night breeze.

"What we got was still bad enough! I don't know if I'll EVER stop tasting sand... so please tell me my sacrifice hasn't been in vain." Lissa grumbled. Robin glanced away from her, focusing instead on a distant sight.

Across the desert, a thousand orange lights dotted the dunes. Numerous as stars, but burning brighter and with a hint of orange. The sort of candle and lantern flames that came from a massive city. With night shrouding the buildings, they could have been confused for Ylisstol. Even if that was the furthest thing from the truth.

"Take a look for yourself; we've managed to use the storm for cover quite well, and slipped in close enough. If we set up camp now and march at first light..."

"Then we'll be there." Chrom spoke up, stepping to Lissa's other side. His eyes glared at the distant capital, almost daring it to come closer. "We'll be there just in time."

Chrom raised his head to bark out orders. "Shepherds, you heard the plan! Let's make camp fast, and get to sleep as soon as possible!"

Lissa sighed out and almost slumped over as a flurry of activity swept through the lines. Packs were hoisted off the horses to form into quick makeshift tents; Flavia worked with Sully and the other riders to make camp, looking like she'd never run out of energy.

And as for Lissa herself, she took comfort that it would be done by tomorrow. There'd be an end to all the marching and worrying by then. And hopefully it would mean Emm was back with them-

"Easy, Lissa. Try not to fall over until you've got a bed in front of you." Chrom's words drew Lissa back to the present. His voice had softened with concern, and his hand had a soft touch where it rested on her shoulder. "You've been marching pretty hard."

"Yeah, well... once we get Emm back, I'll tell you all about how much I hate forced marches like this, and how I wish the food didn't have sand in it... but that's for later." She finished with a yawn. At least she was too tried to do much worrying over Emm.

...Or Chrom, for that matter. He was still lingering over her.

"I've... actually got something I'd like you to have for tomorrow. Here," he reached out and pressed something like a big marble into her hands. Lissa glanced down at a familiar leather bag she'd seen at Chrom's side often enough.

"The gem from the Emblem? But didn't Emmeryn give that-"

"Yes, but now I'm giving it to you." Chrom closed her hands around it, and his voice made it clear he wouldn't accept it back. "Maybe we can exchange again when this battle is over, but... I'd feel better if you'd keep it, for luck. It's kept me alive, considering all the situations I've found myself in. Maybe it can do the same for you."

Lissa shook her head, feeling her eyes narrow and a frown build up on her face.

"But... are you SURE you're going to be okay without it?"

"I have the Emblem with me now. If things go as planned, then it will be enough." She wanted to argue more, but her protests died when she took a second look at Chrom's face. A hurt, worried light lurked behind his eyes, and his hands kept an almost desperate grip on hers; he was holding onto one last stable bit of family. "Lissa, just... stay safe tomorrow. Please."

"Only if you do the same. It'd be a thing to rescue Emm and then tell her you broke a sacred treasure doing something stupid." That got a shaky laugh out of him. Chrom released her hands with another small chuckle.

"Right... we'll both try and keep our necks out of the line, then. And by tomorrow evening, we'll laugh with Emmeryn over the whole thing."

-o-o-o-

They made camp at the foot of a rocky outcropping. It jutted up from the sand "like big hog's back" in Gregor's words. Whatever they wanted to call it, Chrom couldn't argue that it made for good shelter and masked their presence well. Their tents were all easily obscured by the rocks reaching up to the sky, like old and worn bones of the earth.

He was certain there were actual, ancient reptilian bones among the rocks as well. But with night hiding them, it was difficult to tell and didn't weigh on his mind. There was already plenty else to worry over as it was.

The camp was pitched in near silence. Those who did talk did so to distract from what waited for them on the morrow. Chrom overheard Virion trying to pursue conversation with Sully, Panne, and even Frederick... giving Chrom a welcome opportunity to slip away from the knight.

All through it there was no sign of Robin. It was only when he lifted the flap on her tent that he understood why. She stayed hunched over a collection of maps; the scant records of the Plegian capital they'd managed to dredge out of Ylisse's archives. She murmured about pegasus approaches and possible counter attacks, never taking her eyes from the table. She didn't lift her head as Chrom approached, completely engrossed.

"You're working late again." He set a plate of food down next to her. The clunk and his voice jolted her up from the maps. "And while I appreciate that drive, it's not going to do us a lot of good if our tactician faints from hunger."

Robin glanced between him and the food, and her stomach gave an impatient gurgle.

"Y-you didn't have to. I promise I planned to eat, eventually..."

"I've made similar plans in the past... and I've found that it helps to have someone to share a meal with. If I may?" In answer, Robin cleaned the small table of maps and figurines, giving them just enough space to eat. The rations weren't much; just a handful of dried fruit and meat that was more salt than substance. The sparseness showed that their supplies were nearing an end, but thankfully right as Plegia's capital was in sight, and they'd picked out a fast escape route into Ferox. Just as Robin had planned, and that alone deserved a meal.

They didn't make much conversation, both tearing into the food. But finally Robin glanced up at him.

"You know we'll be approaching Plegia in the morning...?" At his nod, she only seemed to grow more flustered. "In a way I'm glad for it, but in another... I fear we're rushing in, unprepared."

"You don't have to worry; it's a good plan." There was already plenty of fretting to go around the camp. Some of it was still trying to form a knot in his shoulders and between his eyebrows.

"The plan... that's not what I'm worried about. I'm... worried about us in particular, after everything that's happened." She stood up and started to pace. The weight of her footfalls echoed those of Frederick, though the circuit she walked around the tent was much smaller than the knight's patrol.

The comparison still made Chrom shift uneasily in his seat as he watched. Frederick seemed determined to live up to his title 'The Wary;' constantly shadowing Chrom's footsteps through the journey. Just this night Chrom needed to deal with five offers to fetch meals and bedding, and three cautious, border-line paranoid looks.

 _'Try not to focus on that.'_

"That doesn't mean you need to lock yourself away in here. This is our last night before the rescue. We may as well make something of it-" He realized exactly how that sounded when Robin gave a double take. Chrom nearly knocked the plates over in his rush to stand up and hold his hands up defensively.

"I-I mean-!" He sputtered out. "That is... I find it helps to have a good memory to carry into battle. Sort of... like what happened in Ferox, before the arena. And I haven't found one yet tonight. So I was wondering if I could convince you to come away from the maps for awhile, and go somewhere else. Ideally away from all of this."

Robin's eyebrow arched up.

"Chrom, are you certain of this? As you said, we're close to the turning point. I'd sooner not risk anything to chance, even something as simple as leaving the camp." His heart tried to sink at that; the rest of him tried to smile in a disarming way, and see if that would help win her over.

"I can promise you, we won't go far."

"...Then I suppose I should say yes. I'm somewhat worried of what you might do on your own." Any left over tension fell out of him at that, and he gave Robin a grateful nod.

His worry stayed in the tent, and his steps only grew lighter as he took Robin through the camp. She didn't ask where they were going, avoiding any attention drawn to them. For his part, Chrom was busy with trying to match his steps to hers, being less of a leader and instead trying to walk alongside her. It made for a fitful bit of guiding, but Robin at least didn't complain.

And eventually, Chrom brought her up to the line of rocks that bordered their camp. He also said nothing until they were perched on the ridge.

"Ok, just look out and breathe." Chrom murmured... and yet he didn't follow his own advice, instead glancing over to Robin. It helped that his worries already felt miles away, looking at her.

"I'm half worried I'll fall down." In answer, Chrom reached out and brushed his fingers to her wrist. Robin paused a moment under the contact, but didn't pull away.

"Then I'll catch you. Just try it, okay?" With Robin's warmth at his fingers, Chrom turned and looked out over the dunes, shining silver in the moonlight… and then up, at a clear, starry sky that stretched out for miles. Something shifted in his head, and his thoughts felt beautifully light and free. Robin sighed next to him, tilting her head up to get a good look at the stars. Her body relaxed next to his, and her shoulders lost that heavy exhaustion cloaking them.

"…Better?" Chrom's voice slipped out, and pulled her gaze away from the sky.

"Yes. Much better… but how did you realize-?"

"Dumb luck. I was going crazy just sitting around one evening, so I took a patrol and found myself somewhere high up. I don't know WHY exactly, but it helps. Are your thoughts feeling sharper?"

"Y-yes. Yes, they are." Disbelief clouded Robin's voice, and her hand shifted in his wrist, her fingers tightening around his. "I think I know what to do now, how to finalize the plans."

"Glad to hear it." Even though he wasn't looking at the sky, that light feeling persisted in his chest. Relief that Robin had the answers, that Emm would have to be ok, flooded through him.

Robin kept her head tilted up to the starry sky, her throat bobbing a little as she took in deep breaths of the night air. The wind sent her hair into a tussle, sticking strands in her face. For the first time that evening she gave a small, breathy laugh.

 _'And I'd gladly march further afield to hear it again.'_ She fiddled with her hair to try and clear it away, and without thinking he stretched his free hand out to help 's fingers brushed against her cheek, his gloves warming to her heat.

It sunk into him then, that they were alone for the first time in weeks. In another beat, he also realized just how much he'd missed this. Just him, and Robin's warmth and presence beside him. His fingers twitched against her face, the only thing moving as they both went still from the contact.

Chrom forgot to breathe, until his lungs burned in protest; he inhaled with a rush of air. It sounded anything but dignified, and he ducked his head with a certainty Robin would laugh, this time at him.

"…Chrom? Are you ok? And what was that about...?" She didn't. If anything there was concern in her voice, and his hand dropped from her face and grip. The loss of contact jabbed at him, and it scared him how that first touch felt like the most natural thing in the world. How much he wanted to bridge the gap again.

Because-

"I-"

Because that feeling in him felt too big for just himself. Because he wanted to share all that and more. The world seemed to lurch around him, snapping into vibrant definition. Stars impossibly bright, and his heart drumming in his chest. The fast pulse more than drowned out the cautious part of his brain screaming at him that this was too reckless of a move right before battle.

"Robin, I-"

"MILORD! There you are." An unwelcome voice snapped across Chrom's ears, and got Robin to jolt upright and away from him. The tranquil mood shattered, and irritation flared up instead. Chrom turned his scowl from Robin and glimpsed Frederick working his way up the slope.

"You couldn't be found in camp... nor Robin. I feared we would have a repeat of your first exodus." Frederick glanced at Robin, his expression darkening. Like he had a notion on who might be blamed for that.

"Frederick," Chrom growled a warning. Looking at the knight, all the calm he'd achieved was falling away. Frederick's armor clinked as he stepped closer, serving as a reminder of what was waiting for them tomorrow.

"And milady... I must ask you to be more cautious in the future, whether it was your intent to bring him out or he pulled you along. But-"

"To hell with your caution!" Chrom spat out. "I don't need your damned wariness hounding me at every footstep."

Frederick stilled a moment from the outburst... but then made the mistake of speaking again. "This… is my duty, and my responsibility to you."

"I'm sick of your duty involving shadowing my every footstep, Frederick! I'm a grown man at this point, and I don't need you constantly hovering over me." Chrom bristled, and the words snapped out of his control. "Go and focus on saving Emmeryn. The person SHOULD be protecting, and-"

And who you failed, he wanted to lash out. The hurt look flickering across Frederick's eyes stopped Chrom short. The knight's expression betrayed very little else, his expression carefully composed… but the brief way his eyes widened and his breath went short was enough to make Chrom pause.

And think of what he'd just said. Even Robin had frozen up and stared between them, as though she'd just seen him strike Frederick across the face.

' _Oh gods.'_ The anger sapped out of him.

"Frederick, I... I'm sorry-" But the knight didn't respond. Instead he stiffly turned aside, almost limping back into camp and murmuring something about preparations. Robin darted past him to chase after Frederick, and he couldn't find it in himself to stop her.

-o-o-o-

She couldn't leave it like that. Not with a key mission looming on the horizon, and Chrom looking like he'd spend the night stewing instead of sleeping. Robin glanced back on Frederick; the knight kept his head low, and Robin had to step forward to meet his eyes. She dipped her head in an apology to Frederick.

"I... I'll make sure he gets to his tent. You'll be alright? And able to sleep, after that?"

"To fulfill my duty this time, I certainly hope so." Robin winced at his words, but still nodded. She spun around and chased after Chrom. She easily caught him up where the rocks leveled out.

"Chrom?" He turned heavily at her voice, barely lifting his head. He kept walking, trying to outpace the scene on the ridge. "What just-"

"I don't know..." And the way his hands shook at his sides, that rattled him. Chrom kept his eyes fixed on the rocks as his breath shuddered out. "I... I suppose this battle is weighing on me more than I thought. The sooner we save Emm, the better off we'll all be. And I'll make it up to Frederick, afterwards. I promise."

"Do you think you can make another promise?" She found herself asking, before she could think twice. "Emmeryn's position IS the most precarious right now, and it's what we need to solve first."

No argument from Chrom just then.

"But... please Chrom, promise me you'll be careful. I'm not just worried about her... I'm scared for you as well." She forced the words out, and his steps stilled.

"Me-?" She didn't fully meet his eyes.

"...I wish I could put it into concrete terms, but I'm terrified something could happen to you. And I don't... I _can't_ let that happen." She hated that it was little more than impulse guiding her words; but the worry persisted. Worry, and images from their time in Plegia; they'd already courted danger too often.

"Robin, I-" One deep breath. Chrom's sides fluttered as he took that moment to marshal his own words. "Then stay with me. T-tomorrow, I mean. Stay close to me on the battlefield, and you can watch my back and I'll watch yours. If we're together, we'll be fine; I know it. And that's the best we can do... right?"

He dipped his head, muttering "It's better than picking fights with the people who are supposed to be your allies."

When Robin nodded he finally breathed out in relief. His hands looked like they wanted to twitch forward, to clasp hers and make the plan binding.

Part of her wanted to reach out and weave her fingers between his, to promise it would be alright.

"You know..." Chrom spoke again. "You're not the only one worrying about others. You are feeling ok, aren't you?"

Robin froze at the odd note in his voice. Chrom's hands stayed frozen at his sides. When she glanced up, there was a dusting of pink crossing his cheeks... and she knew he had to be thinking of that brief bit of contact up on the ridge.

It had been only for a moment, but the memory still lingered and made her face go hot.

"I know I've been impulsive, and I hope that's not... Anyway, are you feeling alright? You're not still worrying?" Chrom pressed again, and something about his voice made that memory sink deeper into her head... and call up other, recent moments spent out in the desert with him.

"I... I feel..." Broken up. Like she had lost a part of herself somewhere along the way when at his side. And not knowing if she'd ever get it back.

 _'I feel like I'm half of a heart.'_ And admitting it out loud would mean she KNEW she wasn't complete. A part of her prayed he didn't feel the same, because of how much it hurt.

"...What about you, Chrom? How do you feel?" She turned the question around, before realizing she never answered it.

"Well... well enough, I suppose. But I thought we were talking about you."

"That's just the thing," she answered, as her body hummed in alarm. "I'm... I focus on you right now. I don't want to see you hurting. That's what weighs heaviest on my head."

There. That was close enough to the truth. To her relief, he let out something that was half a sigh and half a laugh.

"Then it's a mutual thing. I guess if we both worry for each other, we'll be able to look after ourselves." She wondered for a moment; just a moment, before taking that spark of hope and pushing it to the back of her mind. They HAD to focus on other things, first.

"I hope so, Chrom." She finally said. "I really, truly do."

It had to be enough, just then.

 _'Rescue Emmeryn first,'_ Robin told herself as Chrom led her back to the camp. _'Take care of what's important, and then...'_

Then maybe she could voice the ache in her chest.

 _'I promise,'_ she told herself as the night sky faded out overhead, replaced with the glow of campfires. _'I promise I'll tell him the truth... once this current mission is out of the way. That's when I'll do it. And hope that's motivation to keep us ALL alive until the end of it.'_


	19. Exalt

**Chapter 19: Exalt**

With each step, the capital of Plegia swallowed Robin up. Step by step, Chrom and the other Shepherds shadowed her footsteps, moving through a shattered capital. Buildings and rocks were all thrown together like scabs and dried blood from an old wound; they formed into a ramshackle capital of winding streets that had never fully recovered from the past war. Easy to get lost in, but also easy to hide in.

With half of Plegia centered at the execution-turned-parade-ground, it was simple work to move themselves close enough to strike. The sandstorm had cloaked them well, with no one else knowing what direction they were coming from.

Odds were the guards were already looking the wrong way. Inward, to where Emmeryn was held. The rumble of a gathering crowd radiated from the center of town.

Next to Robin, Chrom's breath rasped and panted. The Prince strained forward and moved beside Robin, fighting to keep from bolting into the open streets and racing to where Emmeryn had to be. Robin kept her steps even with his and stayed in the corner of his eyes, acting as a visual reminder to Chrom that rushing in wouldn't save anyone.

She could see his face darken from frustration, then darken even further. The shadow that fell across Chrom's face drew her eyes upward. A strange, muted buzzing filled Robin's ears, making the muscles in her neck snap tight. She'd been keeping her eyes on the streets for a reason.

A collection of massive, ancient dragon bones jutted from the ground and gouged at the sky, dwarfing the rest of the city that sprouted around them. No matter how high people tried to build, they couldn't break free or match the scale of the remains.

Her mind flat out gave up trying to calculate how huge the dragon must have been, just from looking at the skull. A faint outline shimmered in the late morning air; a castle and plateau almost growing on the crest of the skull, its towers dwarfed by the fangs in the jaw.

Something about those bones left her with a cold thorn in her chest, at odds with the heat in the air. Chrom gave a shudder, his sides moving fast and a far off look haunting his eyes. On his back, a golden shield glimmered in the sun and dust choked air. Chrom rolled his shoulders underneath the artifact, determined to draw strength from it and banish something lurking behind his eyes.

She wondered if he was also reliving the skirmish at the oasis. For a moment, she drifted closer to him all while giving herself a mental kick; right before the battle was _not_ a time to be seeking out comfort and calm.

But he didn't move away when their shoulders brushed together. With a warmer feeling coiled in her skin, Robin was able to pull her focus away from the bones and push the humming they triggered into the back of her head. Chrom must have done the same, since his breathing evened out.

"S-slow down a little." Lissa whispered out between gasps, as she tried to keep up. "I don't know why the heat isn't getting to you two, but how about cutting a little slack for us mere mortals, huh?"

Lissa wiped a hand across her face, missing the spooked look that stretched Chrom's eyes wide. His arm went stiff against Robin's shoulder, even though Lissa wasn't even glancing at him or the scarred brand. Instead his sister messed with the drawstrings of a bag at her side; one that doubtless held a silver gem.

"It's ok," Robin whispered to Chrom. "Emm first, and then we'll sort out the rest."

Lissa wouldn't need to find out just then; not until Chrom was ready to tell her.

Their only companion in the streets was dust, blown in from the desert or crumbling off the ragged brick and plaster buildings. A shudder and gasp of breath told her Chrom had found something other than the dragon bones, but something equally unnerving.

"Robin..." she heard a low warning in Chrom's throat, turned and saw him looking at a figure picked out in blue against the sky, held at the very tip of one of the dragon bones. Emmeryn's long hair drifted out in the wind twisting around her, the wind snapping at her to hurry up and fall.

The Shepherds sped along the streets, eyes right ahead. An angry rumble from the Plegian crowd easily drowned out their footsteps and the hooves of the horses.

 _'Keep calling for her blood. That just makes it easier for us to sneak up on you.'_ They'd planned their approach well. The broken portions of the city had no eyes in them, no voices to raise and alert the howling crowd or its armed guards barely keeping order. No one else knew their plans.

"Flavia should be in position now... I hope she's as good with an axe as she boasts..." Chrom trailed off and slowly turned back to Emmeryn. A heart beat later, an executioner stepped along the narrow precipice towards Emmeryn, axe raised to end her life.

Chrom's breath rattled out almost like a growl. The prince abandoned any attempt at stealth and went charging forward, fixed on Emmeryn.

"NOW, FLAVIA!" Robin screamed at the top of her lungs, and she chased after Chrom, praying that Flavia was in position. They burst into the main, flat area of the city, ruined buildings all falling away around them. The crowd took the city's place, scattered along the steps leading down into an arena-like pit choked with sand and crumbled walls. Robin lowered her head and charged through the gaps in the crowd, letting the shock from them being blindsided carry her close enough.

A strange whistling sound joined the Shepherds as they broke cover, sounding like something slicing through the air.

The executioner never saw the other axe coming, until it buried itself in his shoulder and knocked him off the ledge into a plummet. Chrom didn't even wait to see him hit the ground; instead he drew Falchion and held it aloft, signaling the attack to begin.

-o-o-o-

Overhead Emmeryn watched them; underneath soldiers massed into a snarl of metal, forming a wall between them and Emmeryn's precarious perch. At the foot of the bones and beyond the troops, Gangrel stood on a dais and howled for his own soldiers to draw blood. Or he'd bled them personally. He all but danced in place with how restless he was for death; the bone and sand dust coated his boots from his motions.

Screams mingled with the dust on the breeze, joined by the clash of steel and a copper tang in the nose and mouth. Robin focused only on keeping her feet, and settling back into the pulse of battle. The sword fit back into her hand, feeling like it had never left with how easily it rested in her grip.

She had a partner to match the strikes to, and watching him tear through the ranks gave her arms more strength. Her limbs shivered from the fight, but not out of exhaustion... more out of eagerness. A battle fever was trying to find a claw hold in her brain, and Robin had to push against it and remind herself they weren't here to fight blindly. When her vision started to swim, she put her eyes on the shield at Chrom's back.

The gleaming light pushed her thoughts into order. She forgot about plunging into enemies for the moment.

 _'Remember what you're here to do. Remember the plan.'_

"Chrom... we need to force their hand and clear the skies. Hang back a moment." In answer he leapt clear from the fighting and Robin lunged to stay with him. She adjusted her grip on the sword, letting the leather wrapped hilt and cloth wrapped around her fingers press against her skin.

She'd slipped gloves back over her hands this morning, and was swiftly regretting it once her palms sweated and strained against the cloth. But there was little time to register more than annoyance at it. Already commands screamed across the courtyard and blared into her ears. Enemy eyes saw herself and Chrom hanging at the rear... like they were ready to flee if needed.

A thunder of wing beats overhead stirred the blistering air and pushed her hair back. The breeze was accompanied with the scream of wyverns overhead, and Robin allowed herself a brief smirk. The Plegians had fallen for her feint, and quite neatly. Chrom turned easily on his heel and lifted his head up to stare at the oncoming wyvern brigade. A blue light sparked across his irises.

Fear almost crawled into her belly from the glint in Chrom's eyes. But what stopped that short was a fire pumping back into her pulse.

It didn't matter that the wyverns could have taken either of their arms off in a bite; just that they were moving according to Robin's plans... And they were doing it oh so perfectly slowly. A familiar rush trickled into her brain, just like the night of the assassination. Robin tilted her head back, taking one deep breath, and allowed the rush to flood her body and senses. Behind them Frederick shouted to be careful, to draw back if they needed to.

Chrom's breath came out in the same even sigh as hers, watching the wyverns fold their wings and arrow from the sky. They wouldn't need to give up a single step, Robin knew just then. And she wanted it to be only the two of them; no other Shepherds around that they'd have to slow down for.

Robin jammed her sword into the sand and went for her spell book instead. Her fingers skimmed the design along the cover, traced the groove of a metal circle and a gold star. The spells wanted to jolt through her, rage like an out of control storm. She let out two words.

"Arc Thunder," she whispered out, and watched the underside of a wyvern's belly turn pale before a bolt caught it full in the chest. Its breath and life both went out in a heart beat. It shielded the rider from the damage however, and he screamed as they fell the rest of the way... only to cut out when they crashed into the sand and stones. Robin shivered as the spell finished its path through her arms. A small part of her was terrified of the power, and wondered if her body could safely draw it up again.

Chrom turned to her for a moment, and she saw the sunlight glimmer off the emblem on his back. And then she didn't feel quite as much exhaustion; she could at least raise her hand again, against the remaining wyverns. Just in time to see an axe screaming through the air, aimed at her head. Robin tensed, wondering if she could dodge it in time-

She didn't have to, when Chrom snapped into place in front of her. With a heavy metallic CLANG the axe hit Falchion and bounced off. Beyond Chrom's shoulder she could see the one who threw the axe, shouting to his remaining troops in the air.

"DAMN THEM! Ride in lower to the ground, don't let her-" their commander shouted out, only for Robin to regain her aim. Lightning shot through his chest like a crackling spear. He fell slack from the saddle and the wyvern shrieked from the spell bolt, winging away before Robin could hit IT instead.

That left them with two. Now Chrom stepped forward, Falchion forming a gleaming arc as he spun it around and around in his hand. The wyverns plunged into a blistering stoop along the ground, kicking up dust in their wake. One after the other, both desperate to stop the Shepherds from doing anymore damage.

Chrom didn't flinch from the charge. Instead he stepped forward, crouching into his first step. On the second step, he leapt. Framed against the blue sky, it almost looked like he flew for an instant.

The next moment he crashed into the first wyvern rider, sword first. He yanked the blade free with an arc of red, spinning away and taking the rider's life with him. The wyvern came to a rough landing as Chrom leapt back off. It was a smooth attack-

Until he touched the ground.

His body shuddered and wrenched when he hit the dust, the worst of the shakes centered around his sword arm. Chrom still managed to stand up... but then just stayed there, shock still. His sides fluttered, teeth showing in a pained snarl and eyes staring straight ahead at nothing. Oblivious to the last wyvern flying at him.

"WATCH YOUR RIGHT!" Robin screamed, to little effect. Chrom may have heard a whisper of her words since he started to turn... but too slowly. Robin dashed towards him, yanking her sword out of the ground. She couldn't reach him with her voice, so she threw herself into him. His cape tried to snag her arms from the impact, the weave biting into her cheek.

Chrom went down with a grunt, pitching face first towards the ground a second before an axe nearly tore off his head.

But the angle they fell at wasn't right; not enough to avoid the attack entirely.

 _'No-'_

Her throat went dry, her eyes tracing the arc of the attack. She tried to stretch out an arm to put it in the path of the axe, but her limbs turned traitor and froze from fear, bound by gravity. It was like they fell through mud. The axe swiped down through the air effortlessly, slicing the air past Chrom's neck, and then scouring a hit along his shoulder, his arm, and his ribs. Chrom went still from the impact.

 _'Not fast enough!'_ Her thoughts wailed. Gods knew if he'd still have an arm left by the end of it.

A sickle shape caught at the corner of Robin's eye, and she turned to see the wyvern's claws bearing down on her. The talons scoured her own shoulder, parting cloth and likely flesh.

The impact knocked her thoughts back into a fighting state, and shot motion back into her limbs.

 _'Not yet; don't flinch yet.'_ She'd feel pain once the adrenaline died down. Robin twisted around to glimpsethe wyvern skim directly over them. When she rolled upright again she brought the sword up and felt wing membrane part above her, like cloth getting parted by shears. The wyvern crashed into the ground, tumbling end over end before it reached the rest of the Shepherds and came near Frederick. The rider never had a chance to rise.

The surroundings went still around them. Robin staggered up to her feet, a brief stretch of her muscles telling her she hadn't even picked up any cuts.

 _'But... I thought for certain those claws scored a hit.'_

And the sand should have been darkened with blood; Robin's or Chrom's. But all that stained the dunes were a few threads from where she'd cut the wyvern. There was also no time to investigate just then. Robin pulled her eyes back to the air. An empty blue sky stared back at her. No more riders in the sky; Sumia and Cordelia had forced the last to the ground. The surviving wyvern on the ground could only give a fearful hiss as it bunched away from her and Chrom.

"THE SKIES ARE FREE!" Robin shouted. Further down the line Virion heard her shout. On cue a specially fitted arrow flew into the air with a shrieking noise; the signal for a new set of wings to take to the air. The rest of Ylisse's pegasus knights would be at the parade ground in moments. Before that time came, Robin twisted around to look over the battle. The Shepherds were still skirmishing on the ground, keeping the remaining Plegian forces busy and wearing the soldiers down.

Leaving her to focus on Chrom, and the damage. The prince was still sprawled across the sand, face-down and just turning his head to the side to take a wheezing breath.

 _'Careless. Overconfident. You're lucky he isn't screaming.'_ Instead he seemed stunned. Dread sunk into her stomach over the tatters and ragged edge now cut into the fabric of Chrom's tunic and cape. The tattered fabric fluttered when Chrom tried, and failed, to turn over.

"Gods-!" She bit out a curse when she saw the slash along his side. Robin knelt in the dust, grabbed at him, and yanked him over to get a closer look at the wound-

Only to find nothing red. In her mind's eye the desert vanished around them to be replaced by a closed arena. Robin shook her head and the images vanished.

"I'm fine," Chrom murmured, and impossibly enough it looked to be true.

"That should have torn you open, Chrom! How are you-" she pulled his cape aside to look at the wound that should have been there. That was when she saw the sunlight glimmer off of something over his skin.

"You're wearing mail-?" Robin cut off. Chrom had reached across to run a hand over her shoulder, his bare arm stretched out. Where there should have been skin along the bottom and elbow of his limb, she picked out something else. Something hard and glimmering with a silver sheen, growing and pulsing outward across the flesh in time to his breath.

 _'Scales.'_ The analytical part of her brain supplied, quickly drowned out by a panicked _'Those... those are scales!?'_

"Robin... you alright? You could've-" he was still trying to find words. Still worrying about HER. His fingers at last grasped the cloth of her shoulder and tugged the rent aside. Her cloak had gained a new tear from the talons, and in a sickening lurch Robin knew why she wasn't bleeding either.

Her own scales were a shade darker, almost purple black. But they'd stopped and turned the talons just as well as Chrom's had turned the axe.

"Robin... I'm sorry... I almost got you-" Chrom shuddered underneath her, and scales stopped growing along his arms and receded away from his neck. His eyes snapped back into focus and stared at the lines of color along their flesh. His breath whistled in and out between his teeth, hyperventilating.

"N-not now," he managed two words, and his eyes narrowed and glared at the pale patterns twisting over his skin. "Gods- this CAN'T be happening now. We have to save Emm, not-"

"We will. I promise." Robin closed her hand around Chrom's. She forced herself to stand, pulling Chrom up with her. Robin's legs quivered like jelly from the effort, and Chrom slumped against her.

Already Chrom's head was tilted back, eyes fixed upwards. Robin followed his gaze and saw he was looking at Emmeryn. His sister hadn't moved an inch from where she was placed on the ledge.

"Chrom... Phila will reach her. You need to stay with us." Her own voice sounded strange, like she was talking through cotton in her ears and throat. Robin shook her head, trying to ground herself... with mixed results.

"I-I know. But..." Chrom still stared at the skies, and Robin saw a strange, longing look fall over his face.

"I want- I need to be up there." His words slid out. She wanted to scold him that this was no time to be staring at the sky... but instead, Robin found her own eyes drifting back up into the blue, with how wide open it was-

 _'STOP,'_ she told herself, shaking her head. But it still felt like she wasn't entirely back on the ground. If this was how she felt, how was Chrom holding up against whatever was trying to pull them up?

But for just a moment, staring at the sky and catching a breath of cool air, Robin felt her head clear a little more.

"...Why not." She grumbled out in defeat. "Maybe we'll both think and see more clearly if we're in the sky. And I know how we can both get up there." She wrenched her gaze away from the blue and locked eyes with the wyvern as she spoke. The beast gave another hiss... but lowered its head. Robin strode forward and laid her hand across its crest. "I hope that tricked you showed me last night still works."

-o-o-o-

The ground shrank away from Chrom and Robin. Each downward push of the wyvern's wings threw them higher into the clouds. And with blue surrounding them and a less dusty breeze in the air, the fever blazing under his skin died down.

Chrom whispered out a prayer of thanks. For at least the moment, his thoughts were clear. The scales hadn't faded just then, his body still not convinced that the danger had passed. But at least they stayed only as they were; no broadening of the silver and blue flecked bands along his arms. The same was true for Robin's shoulder.

He put his hands on Robin's shoulders and gave them a squeeze, letting her know the gamble had worked. The scales on his arm glimmered bright against the purple splash across her skin, like day giving way to night.

In answer she tugged on the wyverns reins, her own hands holding steady and not shaking too badly. The beast gave a grumble, but it still listened to them, turning on Robin's cue and sending them arrowing towards the center of the parade ground. He didn't want to dwell on just how they'd won the grudging respect of a Plegian beast just then; only on reaching the pegasus knights and then Emmeryn.

The desert fell away, and they rose up to meet Phila's front riders. The knights cut across the sky with nothing to hold them back; any archers still on the ground were forced to fend off the strikes of the Shepherds. Ahead of them loomed the palace of Plegia, rising from the dragon's skull. Its king was somewhere on the ground far below, likely cursing them all. For an instant Chrom thought he saw a figure in black and gold approaching the dais of the parade ground... but he couldn't give much focus to the Mad King.

Chrom lifted Falchion to signal the Pegasus Knight's, and show that they were allies. The sun reflected off Falchion in a silver and gold gleam as he delivered a Ylissean salute with the blade... then sheathed the blade and turned his attention to Emmeryn.

With a few wing beats, they made it into the central grounds. With Chrom and Robin ahead, they'd reach Emmeryn first. Chrom could already make out her face and see how her eyes widened in surprise. Her robes billowed out behind her as she stared at Chrom in disbelief. He leaned out a little, stretching his hand to her. Just a little closer, and she'd be able to take it. The scales glittered on his skin, and with how her eyes widened Emm saw them.

But she didn't flinch from him.

He was vaguely aware of Plegia's king racing from his seat and screaming curses at them. Following behind him was the woman in dark clothing, a sharp contrast to Emmeryn's pale robes.

"Almost, Emm! Just reach-" a rogue wave of power slammed him in the gut. The sun seemed to dim out overhead; that or it was his vision dulling out. Robin winced as well, shivering from what had to be a spell saturating the air. The hair on his neck all pricked up and his breath rattled out. Before it subsided, something different pressed into his ears. The snap of bowstrings and the hiss of arrows.

The shriek of arrows was answered by the screams of wounded pegasi. Chrom yanked his head around to see the previously empty parade ground was filled with a dark miasma... and soldiers shambling their way across it, with a sickeningly familiar gait.

"Risen AND archers!? But how-" Robin's words cut out when she saw the damage done. A full half of the riders were down, their broken forms picked out on the stones below. One of the riders had her silver hair torn free from its bun and streaming out.

"PHILA!" Emmeryn and Chrom both screamed the name out.

"Gyahahaaaa! Oh, this IS a delightful twist." Gangrel's voice echoed up from where he'd fallen back into his seat. Gangrel and lounged against the arms of the chair, as though the proceedings were all a game carried out for his amusement. "So Princeling, do you or your pet tactician have anymore tricks up your sleeves?"

He smirked as he watched them, and the woman next to him laid a long nailed hand across his shoulder. With her other, she signaled the Risen archers to fire another volley.

"How can she control-?" Robin never finished the question before the arrows loosed. They cut through the remaining pegasus knights... and several found their way to the wyvern. The thick scales on its hide protected it from some of the damage, but not all. The wyvern screeched in agony and lurched in the air, struggling to keep flying.

Desert and sky pitched around Chrom as the wyvern fought to fly. No matter where his eyes fell, the air was empty; the pegasus knights sheared away. A wail from the Shepherds' reached his ears, as Sumia or Cordelia picked out her fallen sisters.

Only he and Robin remained in the sky, losing their grip on the air one wing stroke at a time. The bowstrings creaked again, the Risen arrows training on them... but they weren't loosed just yet. Not while Gangrel still watched them with an amused glint in his eye.

"Almost all out of cards, boy?" Gangrel mocked. "I do believe the only trick you have left is a trade; toss down the Fire Emblem on your back, or I'll gladly fill you AND your sister full of arrows."

Damn Gangrel, and himself... but just then the Emblem felt like an impossible weight against his back. He almost wanted to toss the thing free, just to be rid of it.

"Don't listen to him, Chrom-!" Emmeryn called to him. She perched on the precipice, just one step shy of plummeting... and he still couldn't reach her, no matter how he stretched his arm.

"Robin, please tell me you've got a plan-" he stopped short from the pained noise Robin made in the back of her throat. Desperation made her voice tight and high.

"I- I don't know what to do! We're running out of time," sweat soaked through her coat from stress, and seeped into his gloves. Robin was about to break, her plans all torn out from underneath her. "I can't think-"

Robin curled in, shaking her head. Chrom drew his hand away from her back... reaching behind him, his fingers teasing over the straps to the Emblem. Emmeryn gasped out when she saw what he was doing. Her hair blurred aroundher face as she shook her head.

"We don't have any other choice..." Chrom murmured when he saw the hurt look in Emm's eyes. Bits of rock and dust crumbled from where she stood, hand held up and gesturing for him to avert.

"Chrom, you must not! Please take the Emblem and get away! The Emblem isn't just for our country-" She stared at him and his twisted arms, trying to impress the weight of SOMETHING on him-

The world lurched, one more arrow striking into the wyvern and scoring a hit across its neck.

"My patience is running out, and your survival isn't needed for me. I can always loot the artifacts off of your corpses, you know. They'll survive the fall, while you likely won't." Gangrel's voice cut into Emmeryn's words. There was no time left.

And no other decision he could make.

"Emm... sacred treasure or not, I'd sooner have you than it." He'd give up Falchion just then, if he had to. Robin slumped at his words, too exhausted to offer anymore ideas. The wyvern began to slip from its place in the sky.

"...And I'd sooner see you safe with it." The bottom dropped out of his stomach as a strange look settled across Emm's features; something equal parts sad, determined, and resigned.

"Plegia..." she turned from him and called out as she approached the ledge. "See now what hate buys you, and ask if that is what you would have. And see if a single act, one sacrifice, can offer you something better. To all of you."

"Emm!?"

It clicked into him too late, what was about to happen. Emmeryn took one last step. Out into the middle of thin air, and allowed her body to topple forward.

"Emm!" Chrom shouted out, and felt the wyvern give up the last of its own strength. Around him the wings went silent, and they dropped out of the sky like a stone. Their plummet mirrored Emmeryn's, and Chrom desperately reached for her, as though he could grab her out of the air.

"EMM!" He screamed until his voice was raw and tears blinded him.

The ground rushed up to meet them.


	20. Ignite

**Chapter 20: Ignite**

The Risen shambled through the parade ground, dust settling along the rents in its face. Glimmering scarlet eyes pierced the dust and dark mist, settling on a misshapen, broken mass smashed against the stone floor. Orders buzzed in its head to move closer, and its eyes picked out a wyvern quivering on the floor. The creature's sides shuddered, its wings feebly trying to beat and push against the air. It never rose up off of its side, head stretched out and eyes dull. It was close enough to being dead, breathing its last.

But the two forms collapsed against it still clung to life. That, the Risen knew, was not allowed. The two people clung together, their eyes shut; cushioned from the worst of the fall. The one in a white cape clung to the dark cloaked figure, arms wrapped around her. The Risen's eyes flickered over, seeing something vaguely like the wyvern's wings fluttering under the cape. But in another moment they flickered out, leaving just a man, drawing breath with a shudder.

Still breathing; the sound was an irritating strain against half rotted ears. Time to put a stop to that. The Risen raised its sword up, ready to bring it down on the man's head. The white caped figure tilted his head up, and one eye slid open. The Risen tried to bring the blade down to slash the eye out... but something was wrong with its arm. And the one blue eye cut into the Risen, staring hard as the air wavered from heat. Fire bloomed along the Risen's skin, orange, blue, and consuming.

The fire raced along its flesh under the man's glare. Its flesh went up like chafe, and the Risen felt a brief moment of confusion before the flames completely claimed it... and all under the watch of the white cloaked, blue haired man.

-o-o-o-

He wasn't dead. Chrom knew that as he opened his eyes with a few hazy blinks. It hurt too much for him to be dead; his entire body felt like a massive bruise. Robin groaned in his arms, head shifting to the side to show she was still breathing. Chrom lifted his head up, taking in the dust choked grounds. A faint trail of smoke darkened everything, and pricked at his eyes. Chrom shut his eyes again, his head swimming.

"Aversa, dearest... can you not do a job properly? Those two are STILL alive." A cruel voice pricked at his ears. Chrom blinked his eyes back open with a groan, banishing the blurriness and odd burning feeling behind them as he tried to focus-

 _'Emm?'_ The thought sunk in right as his eyes fell on a broken shape, stretched out against the ground as though still in flight. Her robes now draped around her like a funeral shawl, her hair fanned outwards, and both slowly turning red.

"E- Emm-" he choked out, lifting himself up. Or trying to. His body had turned into a weight and he could barely get to his knees. Robin fell from his arms and struggled to rise up onto her elbows. He could hear her breath get sucked in through her teeth when she saw Emm's body.

 _'...Not real. Can't be real-'_

"No... Emm-" the world spun around him as the heavy weight slammed into him across the chest. His eyes burned again as he fell forward onto his elbows, trying to somehow get to her. All while his body refused to move. Refused to accept what was in front of him. His eyes had to be playing tricks-

Gangrel's laugh dug into his ears, cruel and mocking.

 _'Dead. Dead and gone.'_ The thought fell on him like suffocating shroud, and he choked out a sob. Distantly, in the very corners of his vision he saw the Shepherds punch through the rest of the way and stream onto the parade ground, Lissa and Frederick leading them.

Within moments they'd see the same thing. Feel the same pain lodging into their chests, tearing their hearts out and leaving them bleeding, aching,

Hating.

And something-

in him-

... **Broke**.

Around him, the world flickered out for a moment. He sucked in his breath and everything flicked back _in_ , painfully bright. His body burned-

Truly _burned._ Blue and silver flames washed over him, pushing a sensation into his body that matched what was lodged in his heart. Robin turned to stare at him, and over the roar of fire he again heard Gangrel's laugh.

"AHA, now that is more like it! Well cast-"

"...Thank you, milord... but that was no spell of mine." The voices swirled around him. Faintly he knew Robin was screaming something that might have been his name. But none of it mattered anymore, as Chrom let the flames completely sweep over him and let out all his anguish in a long scream. It ripped itself out of his mouth and echoed across the grounds, melding into a tortured, furious howl.

His body was too fragile to hold what was in him any longer. And so Chrom gave into the sorrow and rage burning through him, and let it take over.

-o-o-o-

Chrom melted away into flames, and Robin could do nothing. Her limbs were like lead, and feebly reaching for him made her muscles scream from the effort. He faded away against the intensity of the flames, vanishing into the burning white-hot heart. Beyond she could hear shouts from the Shepherds, and it made her heart sink all the more at what they'd find-

Then the roar echoed out, and the flames dissipated as a pair of white boned and limbed wings rose up and churned the air. As they spread out, the blue and silver membrane between them stretched out against a dusty sky. Robin stared at them, finally picking out the form they were attached to.

Chrom had vanished. In his place crouched a silver and blue tinged dragon. The scales shone like polished armor, and smoke and flames flickered out of its mouth and showed bright against razor sharp teeth. Its eyes glowed blue, while long, steel colored claws scoured the earth and a tail lashed back and forth.

Distantly, she remembered a smoldering village and the screams of dying bandits. The memory paled when the dragon lifted its head and gave another fury filled howl. Beyond the beast she saw how the Shepherds had all, every single one of them, frozen in their tracks. And all of them stared at what Chrom had become.

The dragon didn't care about that. Fury flowed off him, hot as a furnace when he charged towards Gangrel and Aversa. Gangrel sprang up, tensed and ready to try to outrun the charge. The dragon's wings churned the air as he left the ground. She saw how the scales along his neck burned and glowed white hot, like molten sunlight.

"Kill it." Aversa's command was a cold one, and the hiss of arrows again filled the air. These ones tried to find a mark in the dragon's scales... and each one of them was either turned aside, or burned when it touched him. Robin found her way to her feet and she chased after the dragon.

Her throat was still dry and she couldn't cry out his name. But her eyes worked all too well, and she saw the dragon's head whip around and breath out fire, incinerating most of the Risen in a vicious gout of shining, white flame. It should have given her relief. Instead she felt her heart try and climb it's way into her throat.

 _'He's going to lose-'_ his life or himself. Robin's nails dug into her palms, drowning out the throbbing that tried to latch onto the top of her hand. Her shoulder ached and her skin tried to burn one patch of flesh at a time.

"Loose again." Aversa's voice remained flat through all of it, and cut into Robin's senses. Robin could just pick her out from the smoke rising up from the Risen. The flames grew and caught like wildfire, and the corpses paid no mind to how their numbers burned. Instead they followed orders, keeping the dragon busy.

The hail of arrows forced the dragon back to the ground. A few of them finally found their mark and drew blood as the dragon writhed. Its scales rattled as it hissed, shrieked and spat another stream of fire at the remaining archers.

It charged the line, intent on breaking through. A strange hissing sound that wasn't arrows filled the air, and a blade of pure wind struck the dragon across the chest, knocking it down with a shudder that shook the very stones.

"CHROM!"

Drifting through the smoke and dust, she heard someone screaming in a voice already gone hoarse. Lissa's voice was raw from what happened to her sister, and it was breaking all over again.

Aversa lowered her hand, a few left over flickers of wind still circulating around it. With her other, she gestured and a black mist roiled in from behind her. More Risen… these, carrying swords that looked powerful enough to cut through dragon scales.

Gangrel's laugh cut into Robin's ears, the king sinking all the way back into his seat as he watched.

"Ohhh this is CHOICE. The sister makes an exquisite corpse, and the brother is just as much of an animal as his father was!" He cackled as the blue eyes burned and glared at him. But he also knew, with smug certainty that he was just beyond the reach of the flames or fangs. "Aversa, how many soldiers does it take to kill a dragon? Its head should look quite nice next to the former Exalt."

"This should be just enough to finish the job. Swarm him." The Risen rolled forward like a black tide, stepping through the flames and smoke. It didn't matter that a gout of flame took out some of them, when more simply took the place of the fallen. Over their heads another wind spell cut through the air, and found its mark in the dragon's scales. The first swords flashed out and drew blood, in the wake of the wind. The dragon went down with a terrible, pained roar that left Robin's blood running cold, all while the smoke swirled around them both.

-o-o-o-

Frederick stood still, and the world went mad around him. The fight descended into chaos-filled fire and smoke. He watched the former prince fall from spell fire and shriek in agony and fury. The smoke roiled in front of them, obscuring the fight. He could just glimpse something lashing out with unnatural fury and strength.

 _'Just like C_ _hrom had fought in the past.'_ Suddenly, everything made a surreal, story-tale type of sense. And he'd figured it out too late.

Someone tried to run past him, and his hands snapped out on instinct. They found Lissa's shoulders, and he yanked her back when she tried to charge ahead. She stared up at him with a tear streaked face and tried to choke out words in a raw, half whispered voice.

"Frederick let- let go- I have to-" She feebly tried to yank against her grip. "I have to- Chrom is-"

"No, milady." Gods help him. He tightened his fingers and pulled her away, turning his back on the thickening smoke. "You can't help him now. You saw... what happened to him."

Could even a dragon survive an onslaught like that? Frederick doubted it.

"We've lost your sister and your brother already. Don't ask me to stand by and watch you rush into death." Lissa's face went bright red as she listened to him, and for a moment he was certain she'd lash out at him-

But then something gave out in her, and her head slumped forward. He could feel her shudder from raw, broken sobs. He turned towards Maribelle, still mounted on a horse, and lifted the princess up to her.

"Make sure that no matter what, she makes it out alive." She was the last of the Exalted line, and thinking that left him with a weight in his stomach and a knot in his throat. Frederick tried to choke both down.

He wouldn't fail a third time. Frederick turned to his own horse and pulled himself back into the saddle and stirrups. The wind was whipping up around them, and more sand getting thrown into the air by new feet on the ground.

Plegia's reinforcements, streaming in from their garrisons and intent on cutting them off. Frederick cursed as his hand went to the spear and tore it loose from the weapon straps on the horse.

"Frederick, you're not going to-?" Sumia's voice from beside him; for once her pegasus was not eager to make its way back into the sky, and a little behind her, he saw Cordellia as well. At least two knights had been spared the slaughter.

"If I must give up my life for Ylisse so that the Shepherds escape, I will do so without hesitation." He drove his heels into the horse's sides, spurring it forward.

"WAIT! You're not doing it alone!" He cursed when Sumia followed fast at his heels, and realized the rest of the Shepherds were following him. It would be a tight escape, if they managed even that with how exhausted they were. He saw it in how their fighters could barely hold their swords, how the horses gasped for air to charge. Or how Lissa slumped against Maribelle.

He narrowed his eyes on the soldiers… and that was when he saw a ripple in their ranks. The line of Plegians was already half formed, and dissolved completely as someone gave out a gurgling scream and fell to the ground. More were scattered away from what had cut into their backs.

That was when he saw the girl in the gap of soldiers. The blue of her hair and clothing was dulled slightly by the desert dust, but still shone out against the reds of the Plegia uniforms, and trails of blood she was cutting. Her strokes were wild and barely clung to discipline, but sowed chaos in the troops all the same. She stared up from her handiwork and shouted at Frederick,

"GO! GO NOW! The break in their ranks won't last forever!" Frederick jolted back into action at the words, and his horse was just as eager to break through the lines. Behind him he heard the Shepherds pick up their pace, finding their second wind thanks to the escape route appearing by near miracle.

Or near miracle by Marth. Frederick expected her to turn and flee as well when they reached the clearing in the troops… but instead she rushed forward, towards the parade ground. The area was now completely shrouded in smoke from the flames, and with no means of knowing what happened inside it. Frederick swore and found himself trying to snatch at her as well. Whoever she was, he didn't like the idea of her rushing to her death-

"Don't stop me!" She snapped back, and he stilled at the grief trying to spill out of her voice. "They NEED to be alive!"

And with that she was gone, and their own forces were through the line. Behind him, Frederick glimpsed Lissa listing in the saddle, watching as Marth ran.

"Mari… I'm really sure right now I'm in an awful dream, and I need to wake up. But I can't figure out how." Was all she said. Riding slack in the saddle and uncaring that they rode for their lives.

 _'Keep her alive.'_ Frederick told himself again, and turned his head from the billowing ash. And the lost prince and Exalt, both.

-o-o-o-

Pain along his chest, cutting into his neck. It smoldered… but he cared little, surging to his feet and screaming challenge at everything around him.

All was fire, smoke, and things that had yet to burn. But all would burn. All would turn to ash and dust. Until the world was a match for what raged in him, burned at full strength through his blood and leaked out between his teeth. He let the blaze rage on and sweep him up in its wake. It was better to be lost in it, than feel anything else.

The ones in armor and with cruel blades advanced. Fire licked at their armor and blackened the flesh of some, but did little to slow them ALL. He breathed deep, filling his lungs with smoke and heat laced air, letting the air settle in his lungs and begin to catch sparks. He snaked his head down in a strike and lashed the soldiers, watching the flames catch them across the chests, melting flesh from bones. But still so many _more_ to kill.

He would leave them all as ash, even if it burned him out to do so.

"Ch-" something shouted; one who wasn't with the others was running to him, screaming something at him. He didn't want to listen, because that meant going back to a place where words _meant_ something. He let out a snarl and snap against the air and felt fire drip from his jaws. Embers fell onto the woman, scorching her clothing, but she didn't flinch.

Instead something tightened in her posture, and she stretched a hand out and grasped the air with her fingers. The cinders drifting in the air around them flared brighter, and gathered above her hand. She took a step to where the flames burned around them, giving a sharp, pained noise as the fire bit at her… but she didn't falter. Instead she let the fire snake through the air around her and gather into the spell in her hands. Then she threw it hard at another portion of the ranks. The flames exploded on contact with the force of a thunderclap, scattering the attackers and making even HIM shudder from the force.

His wings beat the air, fanning the flames around them… and pushing back the hood on the woman, stirring her hair in the breeze and exposing her face. He caught sight of her eyes for a moment. They were widened in fear, the whites showing clearly against her soot streaked face… but not fear OF him.

The flames stilled for a moment, pausing along with the thrum in his chest as he looked at her. That was when he heard the words.

"Chrom! If you're in there, somewhere… please, _run!_ Get away from here! Chrom, please-"

The rage died when he realized that was HIS name on her lips. And a chill crept over him in its place. His body was suddenly too large, and he felt anger and power both seep out of him and drift away with the smoke. He felt like he was fading out…

…But before then, he felt his wings stir; there was still enough energy in them to push him into the sky, forward towards the gap cut by the spell... and towards the cloaked figure. His claws snapped out and grabbed both shoulders as he passed, holding her close as they cut a low path through the air. He could feel cloth now, against arms-

Human arms. He'd lost his scales, lost his size… and in another moment, lost his wings as they fell from the air. Chrom held Robin tight against him as gravity took hold, and turned so he crashed into the ground first. He didn't get lashed across the back like he'd feared; something pressed in between his shoulder blades and took the worst of the blow. A shield, still at his back somehow. Sand bit his exposed arms as they scrapped along and cut a furrow in the ground, finally coming to a stop. He breathed out, shaky as his body started to shudder.

 _'What-'_ was the best his thoughts could manage. His eyes wouldn't focus right, and his entire form shook as everything caught up to it.

"Chrom? Chrom! Oh gods, don't black out now! Stay-" Robin was leaning over him, shaking his shoulders. He tried to focus on her, but her form blurred as if through a heat haze. "We've got to get you out of here, somehow-"

"Well." Came a strange, new voice, curiously flat and uncaring about all the chaos around it. Chrom tilted his head to the side and picked out a figure in dark, Plegian robes standing over them both. She looked at them through lidded eyes… but raised no hand to attack. Instead, she just watched them. "Aren't you both… interesting."

"They're not dead? Naga has truly left her mark and her luck on them." A second voice, and he saw another figure stepping towards them... this one impossibly dressed in whites and looking like a priest. Chrom let his eyes slide shut, certain he was still going mad.

"Priest, I'm poorly prepared to smuggle just YOU out of Plegia, let alone others- stop looking at me like that. I could help these two as well, but I don't like being taken for granted. And the gods have nothing to do with me helping them; I just find them too intriguing to let them die, here." The mage's voice bit into his ears.

"Th-thank you..." that was Robin's voice now, and he felt hands on his shoulders, forcing him up. "Can you really take him?"

"'Tis a light enough burden, milady." The white robe's voice answered her, and Chrom rested against a sturdy shoulder. "Gather your strength while we find a way out-"

"Here. Now. " Chrom forced his eyes back open at the third new voice. Blinking, he looked around, and-

There. There was a familiar figure in blue, waving them over. The priest did most of the walking for him; his own steps were too uneven. He almost felt like he was going to slide off... until someone took his other shoulder. He glanced over and picked out hair that was colored a lot like Robin's... and then he saw Robin's face, glancing between him and Marth.

"Thank the gods-" Marth's voice was tight with grief, and Chrom idly wondered why. "You two... you HAVE to live, please. Don't do something like that again! I'll guide you to a route I used, just... please stay alive."

 _'What an odd request.'_ Chrom wondered, his thoughts floating in a feverish haze. Nothing felt real any longer.

He had time enough to murmur, "Don't plan on dying," before his thoughts turned into an exhausted blank. And he was left to simply put one foot in front of the next.


	21. Haze

**Chapter 21: Haze**

Chrom took a step...

Sand bogged down his progress, tried to pull him back onto the ground. His muscles all wanted to follow that pull, bruised and stretched thin as they were. His blood fought against that exhaustion, screaming for him to keep moving; no going still, not letting the heat in him catch up in the pause and reach a boiling point.

He had to keep moving through the desert. Even if he couldn't remember WHY.

"Hh-?" It was just a sound he managed, nothing else. But it caused the desert to pause around him. Someone was holding him by the shoulder.

Two someones. One in white, one in black. The black cloaked one had a familiar face, and her (how DID he know it was a woman?) hand brushed his shoulder in answer to his voice. Something about the contact dimmed his vision, and things faded out around him.

-o-o-o-

Chrom took a step-

The impact of his foot on the ground cracked his eyes open. The desert had faded out underfoot to something with more drab colors. But the ground still shifted and pulled at him, like walking through a fine silt. His weight was still supported by two on either side of him; the same from before. Just ahead he glimpsed someone in blue, and in the corner of his eyes a figure in dark robes and gold jewelry shadowed them.

But it felt like someone was missing from all of that.

"Wh-" Chrom wheezed out, and the cloaked figure at his side stirred again. The blue figure in front turned a moment, tensing up as she watched him... either afraid of him, or afraid FOR him. The touch on his shoulder and sides faded out in favor of a weight on his back and strapped across his chest. It pressed down against him, and his eyes grew heavy as well. He never finished speaking, and sunk back into a half sleep instead.

-o-o-o-

Chrom took a step.

One step, second step. Stopping for a ragged breath, and then continuing onwards. This time his focus held.

His eyes jolted open as his feet slipped and thumped against a rock strewn path. The world could not decide whether to be cloaked in shadow, or press too bright against his eyes. Always flickering around him, in time with his breath and his thoughts.

The figure in blue still walked ahead of him, but the distance had grown. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure she was being followed, but also didn't let anyone close the gap.

Robin was close by; holding him up by the arm, in fact. She must have sensed the change in his steps, as she looked over at him.

But still, there was something missing.

"Wh...Where's Emm?" Finally, he managed a full sentence. His throat felt like sandpaper, his mouth gone dry.

"Where's Emm?" But he still managed to repeat the sentence, eyes staring at Robin. She had to know-

Robin didn't answer him. Not with words; just eyes flashing wide with hurt and then squeezing shut around tears. Something was wrong with his own eyes. They blurred and stung, and he didn't know why-

That was a lie.

A part of him knew. The part that had a deep ache lodged into his chest, like someone was prying his heart out inch by inch. He wanted to scream, howl his loss into the graying sky...

...But he was also so TIRED. His body felt like a burned out husk, ready to crumble at the slightest touch. Chrom slumped forward. Robin fought to hold him upright, as did the person on his other side.

Robin's hand skimmed over his shoulder again, and some of the rage faded out from the contact. Leaving him to stagger brokenly along. He half wanted to fall back into oblivion again, but his body was finally pushed into the waking world.

But he didn't have to be in it completely; not just then. Chrom let the fever crawl back over his thoughts, and walk through a numb haze.

-o-o-o-

Keep running. Keep the others alive. Simple orders to follow. Simple was what they needed, just then. Frederick kept that mantra in his head, to try and dull out the grief digging into him. There wasn't any TIME for that emotion then; not when it fell to him to lead the way.

It was a battered group who made their way across the wastelands. Frederick pushed his legs to continue on, leading his horse. Plegia's deserts became streaked with mud, and the number of bleached out fossils only increased. This country was not lightly named the resting place of dragons.

' _Dragons. It all comes back to them.'_ Frederick forced himself onward, trying to think only of pushing forward; never thinking back. His horse must have sensed his agitation, as she blew into his hair with a nervous whicker. The sensation drew his head back to glimpse the ragged line of Shepherds.

Virion nursed a slashed arm. Vaike held his head up to try and mask the pain of healing cuts along his back, while Anna held Sumia's horse steady with one hand, and the other held a gauze in place around her own forehead. Donnel rode double with Stahl, limp with exhaustion. And…

…Lissa never lifted her eyes, instead riding slack in the saddle with Maribelle. She stared down at nothing, only an occasional hiccup and sobbing breath showing she was still alive. And she wasn't alone in how she ghosted through her motions. The entirety of the Shepherds had a broken quality; like they'd lost a limb and hadn't quite grasped the gravity of it yet.

They'd lost Chrom and Robin along with Emm, and most of their pegasus knights; hanging on only to the escape route the tactician had plotted. The sand dunes turned to ridges, then mountains, dotted with forts. The buildings were all in ruins, broken the same as everything else.

"We're almost through, come on! Stir your stumps!" Basilio shouted at the line. A few drops of rain accompanied his words, pushing whatever hair wasn't slicked by sweat flat against Frederick's head. The knight pushed his feet forward… but to his frustration, they were like chunks of lead. All down the ranks, that same exhaustion spread among the soldiers. But Basilio kept at them. "We'll be on safe ground and at the carriages if we can just make it through the ravine-"

"Oaf. We need to stop for a moment here, before we kill half our horses and troops." Flavia's voice was tight; she didn't like the pause anymore than he did. "You have a forward scout or two; if you wish, send them forward and ask the carriages to meet us halfway. This is as good of a resting place as any."

"Seven hells, woman-" Basilio growled, but he also didn't argue. His steps took on a heavy, squelching quality as he rushed people to dismount, and hurry up and rest. Mud had started to cake their shoes, and splashed around the legs of soldiers and horses both.

Frederick walked his horse forward in the hope that there'd be dryer ground just up ahead.

He may as well wished for the dead and lost to come back, while he was at it.

' _First the father. Then Emmeryn, and now Chrom. How many do you plan to fail?'_

"Frederick… stop." Sumia's voice reached him, right before her hand touched his shoulder. Frederick followed it up to see her seated on her pegasus, looking down at him. With the gray clouds overhead and a certain amount of blood lacking in her face, she looked half like a wraith. A concerned wraith, with a piercing gaze.

"I wasn't-" he started to say, only for her to shake her head.

"I-I saw the way you ducked your head." She pointed out. A little color flooded back into her cheeks, and a fragment of pleased expression flickered across her eyes and her lips; she'd been getting good at reading him, it said.

"I can guess what was going on in your head, too. What happened wasn't your fault…" Sumia trailed off, and just like that the pale color draped back over her. It was her turn to duck her head, and a tremor made the mail of her glove clink against his shoulder.

"What happened…" Couldn't have been real. Couldn't be believed, by her or anyone else. Her hand fell away from his shoulder, and Frederick decided it was time to do some scouting forward with a few Shepherds. They'd patched themselves up as well as they could in the brief pause, particularly since they were short one medic.

That girl was still slumped against the saddle horn, staring numbly ahead. Maribelle brushed against Lissa as she climbed back into the saddle. Lissa started from the sudden contact, wincing and making a pouch at her side swing and smack into her ribs.

Frederick was only halfway to her when Lissa clawed at the offending pouch, and pulled out-

"The silver gem?" He blinked in confusion, before finally remembering the prior night and Chrom passing it on to her.

With all that had happened, it felt like it was months back. Lissa's hand balled into a small fist, shaking from how hard it gripped the gemstone; like she would crush it, if only she could.

"Stupid…" Lissa gritted out, still glaring at the stone.

"It didn't protect me, it didn't keep Chrom or Emm safe… what's the point of this stupid thing, then!? It and that shield TOOK them-!" Tears burned hot trails down her cheeks and mingled with the scattered raindrops. When she couldn't break the gem, she drew her arm back to try hurling it away,

"Lissa!" Frederick started, right as Maribelle put a hand on her arm.

"Dearest… don't. I know it hurts, but don't. Your sister gave up her life for that-"

"I don't want it!" Lissa sobbed. "I just want her and Chrom BACK!"

"I'm afraid you cannot get them back, little princess. Or… perhaps I must now address you as Exalt." A voice, flat and carefully composed, cut across the wasteland.

One that didn't belong to anyone in their group. Sumia hissed out a warning as Frederick spun about. He found himself gazing up at a line of soldiers, easily matching their own ragged numbers, descending one of the slopes and trailing out of one of the forts.

Broken clearly didn't mean abandoned. The speaker was at the front of the group, pausing at the ridge crest as he looked down at them. Heavy armor of rank decorated his soldiers… and clearly of Plegian make, going by the bits of bone he wore.

"But your family are out of your reach. And I must tell you that throwing that gem away will give us much less reason to bring you back alive."

-o-o-o-

Dark clouds hounded their retreat.

Robin pulled her hood up against the storm. The rain hadn't begun to fall yet, but the winds whipped around them, and thunder growled across the sky as patches of clouds lit up. She already had the feeling they'd be caught up in it, and in a way she was grateful; maybe the rain would do something to cool Chrom off.

His skin had been like a furnace all through the retreat. The shift back to human shed most of his wounds, like the fire in him had cauterized them. Even the scales had vanished off his arms. The same restoration couldn't be said for his balance. Even now his steps were shaky. And the heat rolling off him bit at her skin. Her own scales still lingered along her shoulder, itching from the contact of Chrom's weight. Robin squinted her eyes, and forced them to slide to glimmering shape riding up and down on his shoulders.

Chrom still carried the Emblem, slung across his back. Every time he faltered, she swore the thing gave a brief glimmer, and Chrom somehow found his feet again. It also kept the burn along Robin's shoulder down to a stinging, but survivable level.

But Chrom still wouldn't lift his head, instead sagging across her shoulders and those of the priest they'd found in Plegia.

 _'Libra.'_

The monk glanced back at Chrom on occasion. The massive, double bladed axe he carried currently served the role of a walking stick instead of a weapon, his hand resting between the blades.

They made for an odd group; three Ylisseans and a Plegian dark mage who had decided she held no particular loyalties to Plegia. She took the lead after introducing herself as Tharja, picking out their path as the hours bled together, and they wandered further northward, up into a strange mountain pass.

"No sign of our guide. She's decided to vanish." The mage reported, pausing in place as she scanned the rocky slopes. Robin followed her gaze, and realized she was right. Marth had evaporated like azure smoke.

And just like that, she was gone again with those cryptic words left hanging in the wind.

 _'We must live? Why?'_ A chill went up her back as she remembered how close they'd come to death... and her hand gave another ache. Chrom wasn't the only one running a fever. Ever since she'd accepted the burn from the embers in Plegia, something hot stayed in her skin. Something she couldn't outpace, no matter how she tried.

The sensation kept rising in her, and Robin was forced to grit her teeth and slide her eyes back to the Emblem, praying it would help her. And each time, it did the trick. Barely.

It wasn't enough to help her when they stepped on a patch of loose gravel. Chrom faltered in his steps and pitched forward; his arm slid from Libra's shoulders, and his weight pulled Robin down until they both collapsed to their knees.

"Chrom-?" Robin gasped out, but still clung to him. Libra turned a few paces, reaching to them... but not entirely bridging the gap. Tharja watched as well, running a well manicured nail against her lips and chin.

"R-robin..." Chrom wheezed out. His sides heaved, and his breath came out in a shuddering gasp. The blue gray air around them flickered orange for a moment. At first Robin wondered if someone had lit a torch.

That notion died when Chrom exhaled, and another flash of flame slipped out with his breath.

"Robin... Emm is..." He was still caught in the past. Again, his muscles bunched up, squirmed... wanting to change into something else, terrible and powerful. For a heartbeat she was sure he'd relapse. Instead his tension died out with a shudder.

 _'Too weak from everything.'_ She realized; for that matter, she felt the same.

Libra's eyes widened from the fire. Tharja simply canted her head to the side.

"...Yes, I DID make the right call with going with you. Plegia life was getting boring, compared to all of this."

"I'd take boring at this point," Robin murmured, touching her hand to Chrom's shoulder.

"Chrom...? Listen to me," all she knew was that her voice did _something_ to help him. She didn't dwell on why just yet; only keeping him close. Keeping them both focused. His head listed to the side, eyes trying to focus on her.

His breathing steadied, though she could still feel heat under her fingers and his skin had a sheen of sweat on it. "We have to get you out of here. You need to escape, and you NEED to stay alive... and human."

The last slipped out before she had time to think. Chrom blinked once, shaking his head from side to side and taking deep shuddering breaths. Fire stopped leaking out between his lips; he was trying to focus, to gain some measure of control. That much was clear with how his hand found hers, and squeezed tight.

"What's... happening to-" he rasped out, eyes still staring at nothing... and with a start, Robin saw that his irises had changed. There was an eerie blue glow behind them, and his pupils had narrowed to slits, looking inhuman while the rest of his face stayed the same.

"Aftershocks from your change in Plegia, I'd guess." Tharja continued. Where Libra hesitated, she stepped in closer to gaze down at Chrom. " _I_ could have told you power like that doesn't come cheap, particularly if you've no training for it. There's only so much being a creature of magic will do-"

Chrom blanched at her words, the glow in his eyes dimming as they went wide. A chill latched into Robin's own skin as she felt him shake.

"I-I'm not... human-?"

 _'_ _ **We**_ _aren't?'_ She couldn't muffle the thought. Stress sunk into her stomach and bit at her throat, making her breath hitch. The scar on her hand looked particularly snarled and ugly, just then.

"At least not all the time." The mage answered, bluntly. Libra moved towards her, shaking his head.

"Lady Tharja, that was ill said-"

"Well, I'm out of practice with talking formally to royals. Or dragon blessed, so we'll all have to make do." Tharja snapped back, rolling her eyes. "Oh, and if it's all the same to you, we should get the prince marching again..."

"I'll take him." Robin heard herself say, and she pulled Chrom to his feet. Chrom just managed to follow her lead, acting half on auto-pilot.

"I can take him," she said again. "He's still on his feet, and both of you should figure out where we're going."

"...As you say." Libra finally bowed his head in a nod. He glanced around the rocks again, a strange look passing over his face. "...This trail has a familiar look to it. My brethren crossed the borders under the cover of darkness so I am not certain... but I am sure we used this same pass to try and rescue the Exalt-"

 _'W_ _ho you all failed.'_ That thought bit at Robin and stung at her eyes, before she could stop the idea short. That and the weight of the situation threatened to drag her down, with just how much she'd failed everyone. The image of Emmeryn and Phila's broken bodies latched into her head.

A shudder moved along Robin's shoulders and cut into the downward lurch her thoughts had taken. Chrom ducked his head, his throat fluttering against her neck while a sob tried to pry its way out of his throat.

"And he says _I_ need better words," Tharja mumbled. Then louder she said "This is one of the few reliable routes in and out of the country. The forts don't get as much upkeep."

Neither did the path, with how many rocks tried to turn the foot. Chrom was a pressing weight on her back, always pushing her forward.

There was still that one other thing driving her along. Pushing sparks into her skin and a restless feeling along her limbs, making her feel like a giant tensed muscle. She couldn't turn her head correctly to look at the Emblem, and Robin found herself in need of a distraction.

She looked to Tharja for it.

"You called us-"

"Dragon blessed... or cursed might be a better way of putting it. Depends on who you ask." Tharja glanced at Libra, and the priest coughed.

"Actually... much could be said the same in Ylisse. Even the scriptures and songs can't always agree on whether it's..." Robin saw how he didn't fully glance back at her and Chrom.

"It's what?" She pressed, talking around a dryness in her throat. Chrom lifted his face as well, looking almost quizzical before his head sagged back down.

"A curse or not. Almost all of the tales are cautionary, about how no one can safely wield that much power. I'd always taken them to be metaphors for not being too greedy or desperate. But now..." He sighed out, eyes falling again on her and Chrom. Beyond the howling wind, Robin swore there was a ghostly echo of Chrom's scream in the plaza.

"However... he IS of the Exalt's line. And I think that if anyone can shoulder such a burden, it would be him." Robin didn't answer, her eyes drifting back down to her own mark. With how shot Chrom's control was, what did it say about hers?

"We're getting close to your escape party." Tharja announced, having taken the lead again. "They've taken this route as well."

"You've seen them?" Tharja made a tsking sound, letting a vial on a thin gold chain drop from her fingers. Something inside it sloshed red, vivid against the grayed out landscape.

"Of course not... I just took some fresh blood from the sands I KNEW was from one of them, and put a tracing spell on it." Robin shivered; not from Tharja's casual use of sorcery, but instead from a thought worming its way into her mind.

"But... does that mean someone else could track them too?" They were getting closer to the ridge top, if the slant in the ground was anything to go by. Robin pushed her feet against it.

"Perhaps, if they had a mage as talented as me-"

A peal of thunder cut Tharja off, right as the skies lit up. White light cut Robin's eyes, and her feet stumbled over rocks. Drops of rain drummed on her hood, and her feet nearly shot over the ridge. Chrom clung onto her arm to keep her from stumbling down, and Robin blinked furiously to clear her vision.

Below them was a series of narrow passes. The ground below ran in ravines and breaks, like something had clawed up the ground. The one constant were humps of something pale, rising and falling back into the mire.

Bones. Bones again, all around, some forming the half roof. With a lurch, she realized she was actually bracing her foot against one that jutted out from the hill. A humming speared back into Robin's pulse.

Diminished compared to Plegia, but it soaked into her muscles all the same.

 _'Not yet, not yet-'_ She swore her shoulder was going raw, between scales and flesh. Robin frantically tried to push all those sensations out of her head.

Her eyes darted across the field below, trying to pick a road out of the mess of rocks. Instead her eye caught on several splashes of color, clear against the muddy grounds.

"Ylisse?" Libra whispered out the same time Robin saw a dress and blurted out "Lissa!"

Chrom's head snapped up at that, his eyes focusing and his weight lifting from her shoulders. His sister was indeed down there, surrounded by the remnants of the Shepherd's strike force. Robin counted out all of the familiar faces she'd come to know, and let out a sigh of relief...

Right as she noticed how tightly they were packed in a defensive circle. They were ringed by Plegian attackers brandishing steel, though not one of them took a step forward to strike with swords or axes. Frederick stayed at the front of the group, keeping his spear steady on the attackers. The weapon had picked up more nicks and scars from the battles, the edges chipped and tarnished. To make up for the damage to Frederick's weapon, Sully and Stahl flanked him with weapons drawn and holding the fighters at bay.

Beyond them, standing on one of the ridges and flanked by riders, she picked out a man with the look and bearing of a general. His words echoed up from the walls of the ravine, just audible against the rumble of thunder and patter of droplets on her hood.

"Ylisseans, my name is General Mustafa of Plegia. I ask you now, throw down your weapons and surrender peacefully. No harm shall come to you if you do this."

"...You will forgive us if we cannot take your word." Frederick's own voice was strained. "Plegia has robbed us of two leaders today... I will not willingly give up the third."

"You will be marching to your deaths. We outnumber you, and outflank you. I ask again, please surrender. Believe what you will, but I heard your Exalt's speech before she fell. I don't wish for more blood to be spilled-"

"Don't-" Chrom hissed out the word, and warmth spread across the back of Robin's neck when he stood up. The blue gray of the storm was banished by a flare of orange. Robin flinched backwards, and Chrom stepped forward to glare down the slope and seethe.

"Don't you dare-" he said again, and a shudder of power ran through him. The brand on his shoulder glimmered. Each time he exhaled, flame drifted out from his mouth. Chrom didn't so much as flinch from the fire, eyes boring into the figures below.

"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK MY SISTER'S WORDS!" He howled, and all the faces below turned up to look at them. The anguish in his words jolted something loose in Robin's heart, and pushed a familiar ache into her hand.

A jagged lance of lightning split the sky with a crackle. Chrom leapt from the ridge and slid his way down the muddy slope, the sky opening up above them and drenching the field in a torrent.

Robin chased after Chrom. With each step her fingers curled to claws, and the temperature of her body spiked. Her body finally uncoiled, moving smoothly... and eyes only on Chrom.

What choice did Robin have, but to follow?


	22. Rebirth

**Chapter 22: Rebirth**

Rain fell in sheets and ran into Frederick's eyes, biting cold against his skin. Frederick still lifted his head up, heedless of the drops. His eyes refused to do anything other than stare at what was before him.

It was a blue haired figure standing tall, screaming for blood and framed by a steel colored sky.

 _'Duran?'_ Frederick thought for a wild moment. He blinked the water free from his eyes, and the shape resolved into Chrom.

The prince was somehow, impossibly, standing before them. Like someone, or something, back from the dead. A stunned silence followed, the drum of the rain impossibly loud. No one moved. No one spoke. Not even the Plegians.

It all broke when Chrom charged down the hill. The Plegians swung part of their number around, the general snapping out commands. A portion of the soldiers remained, weapons on the Shepherds... But with an extra space that wasn't there before. One flinch from Chrom's appearance.

It was enough for Frederick to catch his own breath and lunge into the saddle, before the noose could close around him again.

"Shepherds!" His voice cracked out, oddly dry but still with command. "Don't pause, don't let this go to waste!"

Frederick grasped the silver spear in a command to charge. Any other thoughts he shoved to the back of his head. Keep the others alive. Simple orders.

-o-o-o-

 _'Unexpected.'_ Was the first thought that went through Mustafa's mind. Seeing a supposedly dead prince screaming down hate at them had a way of inspiring that.

The second was _'But it makes no difference.'_

"Stand firm." Mustafa reminded his troops, pointing them with his axe to form into the new line. "We are still of Plegia, no matter what else... and they are only a squad of four bearing down on the flank."

"We've every reason to capture them, and take them back to Plegia. However..." The general looked over his soldiers. Some looked out at their foes with scorn. Others, more than a simple handful, wouldn't lift their eyes. "Those who wish to leave, may leave. I won't force you to fight monsters, or... or for a cause you may not believe in. Those of you who are moved by the Exalt's words, or shaken by the Prince... I won't stop you."

"Only cowards run." One of the soldiers, a rider with his armor shimmering from rain rivulets, answered. The rider lifted his head up to Chrom, sneering at his efforts in plummeting down the slope. The Plegian mounted up, to better roll his eyes at the prince.

"D-don't you know?" One of the soldiers whispered; a newer, rawer recruit from the looks of things. "There was a hawk from Plegia- they said... they said he's not-"

"You're making the rest of us look like children." The seasoned rider cut him off. "He's no dragon, scurrying down the slope; even if he IS, he's just a man now. The Prince can bleed, and he can die."

"And many of us have killed our share of dragons." Mustafa reminded them. He saw no need to remind any just then of how the screams of the beasts, or the men they wounded, had a way of echoing in the ears.

"But still... you may leave. I believe the words from Plegia. I won't ask you to stand and fight, if anything from there gives you doubt. But I have my own honor... my own family to safe guard," as much from Gangrel, as any dragon. But again, he left the words unsaid. "And my own plans on how to bring a dragon blood to heel, dead or captive."

Mustafa scanned the soldiers again. None moved from their spot; the fear was gone from some of their eyes, and he nodded in quiet understanding and acknowledgment. None of them flinched from the Prince's charge, eyes instead turned to Mustafa and waiting for his orders.

"Riders, go out and cut him down to size. Wear him down, and use the dragon slayers if you must." There was a strength in those strange, cruelly sculpted blades. The swords could slice dragon scales and dance in the winds, strong as the metal was. Doubtless they could cut into flesh just as well. "Wyverns, focus on the Shepherds. The rest of you-"

Mustafa paused, eyes back to the slope and swore he saw a hint of something bright from the prince's mouth. Red, orange, flickering in tongues of flame. But again, he forced himself to say nothing.

"...Wait. Wait for my orders, to be deployed as you need to." The proud rider simply grinned at Mustafa's words. The soldier drew his helmet back over his head, the armor mounted with a dragon's horns. Doubtless he'd done some killing as well, to earn the decoration.

And would do more killing before the day was done.

-o-o-o-

The slope melted away under Chrom's charge. Mud tried to slow him down and turn his feet. Chrom barreled straight past the terrain and skidded to the mire. Ahead of him the Plegians lifted their swords and axes. Chrom could just barely glimpse the Shepherds beyond, their horses pawing the ground as they milled in confusion over the sight of him.

Chrom forced his eyes away. He didn't want to see the looks in the Shepherds' eyes. Not just yet.

And not with the general's words still biting at his ears. His limbs may have trembled, he may have been drenched with sweat, and his form fragile... but he could still let rage well up. It was still easier to feel anger, let that burn away grief, and give him strength to stand.

The rain turned to steam on his skin and as he exhaled. The flames at his mouth barely drew his eyes. Instead Chrom focused on the general, intent on cutting through to him. The Plegians rushed to reform the line around their commander, now suddenly needing to guard against two assaults.

He didn't give them much time to prepare. Falchion was still at his side despite all that had happened, and Chrom wrapped his hands around the hilt. The first soldiers bore down on him, their horses rearing to try and crush him.

The first, leading rider bore down on him with a blood thirsty howl of his own, one with a mocking edge to it. Rainwater streamed off the horns of his helmet and flew in an arc from the massive curved blade.

His blood ran hot underneath the skin of his arm, and his muscles wrenched his bones the same way Falchion rattled free of the scabbard. Chrom ground his teeth against the sensation and yanked the blade free. Into the arm and elbow of the lead rider in a hard arc. Chrom spun away, sidestepping the horse's charge.

The rider fell from the saddle in a scream. Falchion cut from the body in a red streaked line, slicing a path through stormy skies. And the world turned a little more red.

The sword and severed arm thudded into the muck. The blade's ribbed edge made water and blood run in a strange pattern. It was a blade he'd seen once before-

Felt once before, cutting at his sides when he was in a different shape. Chrom's lips curled back to show his teeth, and he rounded to face the next riders. The unhorsed riders curled in on his side and screamed.

Chrom answered the noise by slamming his heel into the man's throat, silencing it.

 _'Red. All is red.'_

Red coated Falchion, streaked with gray rivulets of rain. His blood and pulse were a red hot match for it. The scarlet soaked into his vision, the colors bright against the mud washed battleground. Adrenaline and a pounding heart mixed together to form a strong, thrumming cadence in his head that was the easiest thing to match his slashes to.

-o-o-o-

Chrom vanished in the onslaught, lost beyond gouts of gray and brown water thrown up by horses, and sheets of rain. The only way Frederick could track him was through the screams. Those matched the howl of the winds, the cries either hoarse as the thunder, or high and wailing.

The cries seemed to say this would be a good time to run. Turn tail and flee into Ferox, leaving this battle behind.

Instead Frederick thumped his heels into the horse's side and turned her head towards the thickest of the fighting. He wasn't alone in his charge, which was a fortunate thing; there was still the matter of a wall of soldiers between him, and Chrom.

A few wyvern riders tried to claw their way into the sky, only to drop straight back down; some of the bodies pierced by Virion's arrows, one or two cut down by a lance from Sumia or Cordelia, and some-

Some crackled with the residue of dark magic. Frederick scanned the battlefield again with startled eyes, and found a new mage on the other side of the field; dressed in Plegia's robes, but not fighting alongside her countrymen. Instead she stood on one of the high, dirt coated bones and rained down spells, her side guarded by what was clearly a Ylissean monk.

Only the pain in his arms reminded Frederick this was all real. That and how clear the sounds were. A thud of hooves reached his ears, and Frederick turned to see Maribelle's horse rearing up next to him with a startled neigh. Lissa was still in the saddle, arms wrapped around Maribelle, and eyes fixed to one point; the other side of the battle.

"Chrom is still alive." Lissa whispered out. "I need to-"

"...I will take you to him." Frederick heard his voice ring out, giving a promise. "It's... what I must do."

To make up for leaving him in the first place. The prince must have just held onto his humanity; there was no fire or smoke in the air yet. Only mist choking the air.

And the screams to lead him onward. Frederick slashed with his spear, stabbed it forward in a charge, and added a few more to shouts to the downpour.

The line of Plegians began to fragment. The soldiers heard the cries of their countrymen. The Plegians shuddered in answer to the cry... and then broke all the way from Frederick's charge.

The rest of the Shepherds moved with him; he glimpsed Sully hauling Virion up behind her, Donnel still in the saddle with Stahl and doing his best to fight with a spear. Then Frederick's vision narrowed to the gap that had opened in the ranks and punching through.

If he could just reach Chrom.

Just reach-

A wyvern thundered down from the sky, one of the last beasts in the ranks. Its long neck snaked out, snarling and baring teeth at Frederick. Just beyond the dulled, greyed scales Frederick caught a glimpse of something blue.

Frederick grit his teeth and charged forward. The wyvern snapped its teeth, and his horse reared with hooves just avoiding the jaws. Frederick leaned forward in the saddle, and with a wrench drove his spear down.

It caught the wyvern in the throat, pinning it to the ground. The rider lashed with an axe, and Frederick yanked the spear clean to meet him-

Tried to yank it clean.

The spear gave a strange, squealing sound and shattered like a dead branch. He lifted the broken, blunted end of the spear instead of a point, and smashed it into the Plegian's temple. The man fell to the ground, senseless or dead.

Frederick stared down at the weapon, disbelief sinking into his throat. The Exalt's gift, broken-

"EYES UP!" Sumia screamed at him, tossing an iron spear. By reflex Frederick dropped the broken weapon and caught the new one. With his eyes lifted, Frederick also saw they had their path forward, at last.

Lissa and Maribelle wasted no time in riding through the breach. Their horse danced between the remaining soldiers and pushed its way up to where two figures cut their way up a slope.

-o-o-o-

More rode to meet Chrom. More fell before him.

Chrom braced himself against the shards of stone strewn across the ground; some of the few solid footholds in the mud. With the stone underfoot he pushed himself forward, step by stubborn step. The Plegian forces were folding in front of him; some dead, others scattering like startled birds. The horses kept flinching from the fire snapping out between his teeth, throwing off the strikes of the riders. Leaving them open for Chrom's counter attacks.

The foot soldiers were all cringing backwards, up the slope. A ruined structure loomed at the top, the troops gathering around the walls; trying to put the broken stone between them, and him.

 _'Not for long.'_ Chrom snarled at them, plunging into the soldiers too slow to retreat, or too desperate to flee. Beyond the reach of his blade he saw the Shepherds rallying. Watching them, a small whisper of hope went through his fogging mind, praying the Shepherds would be able to flee with the time he'd bought them.

It didn't matter what happened to him, if they got out in one piece.

And there was still the matter of his enemies still being alive. They didn't have any _right_ to that. Not with Emmeryn dead-

Fury clouded his head, leaving Chrom to blindly lash out. Chrom's arms drove the sword forward, parting armor and flesh again. And again. Into a blur of making things bleed-

More rider fell, but a sensation stopped Chrom short from flying into the next clump of soldiers.

A long line traced over his chest, forming a low and dulled ache. Red drops spattered against the mud in a strange rain, smoke twisting up where they hit the ground. Chrom brought his fingers to the line and blinked when they came away warm and coated in a sticky scarlet. He was bleeding, Chrom finally realized.

' _Why? Where's the scales-?'_ They should have been there, a wild thought whispered. But his flesh, his power… it felt stretched thin, and running on the barest lick of fuel.

He didn't get time to dwell on that. A new line opened along his back, stopping short with a clang of metal as the shield on his back caught and turned the blade. Chrom twisted away from the steel's bite, letting a horse thunder by… less one rider, when Chrom brought his own sword up. The rider fell and died with another ragged scream. Chrom didn't answer the howl, forcing his feet forward and preparing for the next attacker.

There was still a number of riders left. And they were armed with those hateful blades that had the easiest time opening him up.

His blood streamed out down his chest and back, the cuts slowly healing up but still draining out all his strength and swiftness. The ache spread up from the wound and coated his head, making him sluggish.

' _How many soldiers does it take to kill a dragon?'_ Gangrel's words bit at Chrom. He had the feeling they'd find the answer to that, and soon, as he stared down the cutting edge of a slayer's sword racing towards him.

-o-o-o-

Agony raced up and down Robin's arm, barely kept in check when she squeezed her hand into a fist. From the shoulder down, she was connected to a different creature with its own pulse; at least that's what it FELT like, and the haze clouding over her brain with each heartbeat didn't help with clarity.

Her vision blurred in and out, listing to the side as Robin tried to follow Chrom in stumbling steps. His cape fluttered in front of her like a white flame, the only thing keeping her eyes fixed forward instead of rolling into her head.

That. And several bursts of crimson flowing around him. The iron smell soaked Robin's nose and stuck against the roof of her mouth.

' _ **More-'**_ The thought didn't feel entirely like hers. Neither did the snarl curling her lips. Robin wanted to flinch from the idea of drawing more blood, almost drowning in it and feasting on the dying lives-

But Chrom was still charging forward. And he couldn't go alone. THAT thought felt more like one of hers.

"Ch-" Her tongue tripped on the words, and the new red taste coating the air. Blood traced scarlet fingers down the white cape, drenching the fabric and Chrom's skin. HIS blood.

' _ **Don't you want to see more? Draw more with your own attacks?'**_

The world lurched back and forth as Robin shook her head, nausea curling in her gut. Whatever had happened to Chrom in Plegia, it wanted to get under her skin now. And it just needed an outlet.

' _But- I don't-'_ Her body gave a shudder. Matched with how Chrom's sides fluttered. He was like a dying flame, barely keeping his feet.

' _I don't want-'_ Her own shakes centered along her arm, the muscles all bulging against the skin.

' _Not HIM. I don't want_ _him to-_ _'_ Chrom slumped forward, no longer raising Falchion. Not fighting against the soldiers trying to snuff him out.

A growl built itself in Robin's throat at that. Her feet slammed into the ground, leaving pits in the mud where she pushed herself forward.

' _ **No one else-'**_ And there was the rider barreling towards Chrom, intent on cutting him to pieces. And the thought of that made red shoot into her vision, and the maddened thoughts took on a different pitch. _**'YOU don't get the right to bleed him, Plegia.'**_

She cut a line through the mud, and glared up at the rider daring to raise a sword against Chrom.

Robin lashed out, a burning change rippling through her arm and slamming into the soldier. Her enemy struck the ground in a gout of water, and didn't rise. The puddle he'd landed in gained swirls of red, leaking out of a savage tear in his side.

"Where... where's your sword-?" Chrom's words sunk into her ears, the voice raspy and thick with confusion. In the corner of her eyes, he blinked at her in disbelief before staring at where her sleeve had been pushed aside.

Rain water ran down her arm, where the sleeve was pushed back from the force of her strike. Skin and flesh were gone, replaced from hand to elbow with something familiar and gleaming.

The scales coated her arm, black and laced with a purple sheen. They rasped as Robin lurched back up. A red glare reflected off the scales, from where her eyes rested on them.

 _'Are those... my eyes?'_ And did they ever glow red before?

Did that matter, since Chrom was still bleeding? And the soldiers still rode at them, trying to bring their weapons into play. Robin lunged at them with a howl, and the mental voice quieted its screaming for blood; as Robin swiped and slashed with her new claws, she was drawing plenty.

-o-o-o-

"Th-they're not dying. Why aren't they dying!?"

Mustafa didn't answer, still trying to make sense of what was before him. Like something out of a campfire ghost story, with how unstoppable their enemies were. The slope was littered with bodies, and horses wheeling and trying to flee.

"Impossible... it's just two fighters!" One of the soldiers gasped out. A mailed hand clutched at a hole slashed into his side, three long cuts carved across the metal as if the steel was paper. Like a massive wyvern had turned on them and shredded into their ranks. The soldiers in front of them were in no better shape then the gasping one, crumbling inwards from the force of the attack.

The swords had cut a few lines along the prince. But little else. So many of them lay half submerged in the swampy ground, forming a pathway of lost blades up to the fort. And Mustafa found himself pushed back, nearly up to the gates.

His men weren't in any better condition; the howls of the hurt and dying hung in the air, echoing off the dragon bones and ravine walls. Those that still stood barely held their ground, weapons shaking in terrified hands. Over their heads, Mustafa could see the cause of their terror.

Just two, as the soldier said. But two was enough, if they were both demons on the field.

And what else could someone spitting fire, and someone with baleful red eyes be? No matter how his troops threw themselves at the two, how their desperation mounted and fueled their charges… they still broke against the prince and the tactician.

Their other front, carved up and divided, fared no better. Much of the flank had been torn up, some of his men at last deciding to take up his offer of fleeing. Mustafa didn't send any soldiers after them; at this rate, they'd be lucky if any of them survived.

"Orders, general?" One of the last veterans asked; there were perhaps a handful of the old guard left, those who had served with Mustafa and earned their scars; against Ylisseans, dragons, rebels… they were decorated. But he didn't know if that would be enough.

Mustafa let his breath out in a long sigh, seeing just one option left to him.

"Tell the main part of our forces to withdraw into the fortress… and be prepare to leave through the back if needed. The rest of us, the seasoned fighters… well, we have one last stand in us, don't we?" His fellow soldier paused for a moment, and then let out a bitter laugh.

"I suppose we do. Let's hope it's something they'll sing about."

-o-o-o-

Chrom had somehow kept his feet. Robin didn't falter in her steps. And once she'd joined his side, Chrom hadn't gained any more cuts. But they had gained the slope. And next the gates of the fort.

Robin lashed around with her new arm, claws shimmering black and red. The Plegians fell away from her, either wounded or with wide eyed terror. With a lurch, he realized his breath was still burning, and it wasn't just her they were trying to run from.

But still the general stood his ground. Mustafa tightened his fingers around the axe, leveling his eyes on them.

"...Blood of dragons or not, I will carry out the king's orders. And see the Emblem back to him, with or without your lives." Scars crisscrossed his face, inflicted by swords... or claws. Either way, Mustafa didn't flinch from them.

Chrom coiled up, readying for another strike. Robin curled her lips up to show her teeth as she stepped forward.

"-om! CHROM, WAIT!" The voice screamed into his hearing, along with a woosh of displaced air as something else leapt the ruined stones.

Chrom almost turned to the sound... Then the general's axe licked out and sliced along Chrom's shoulder in a hot line. Robin threw herself forward at the sight of blood, but the general turned hard so she met his armored shoulder. She crashed off of it and fell to the ground, scrambling and failing to find her feet in the rain and muck.

Something showed up in the corner of his vision; where there should have been nothing still standing. Chrom snarled, determined to make up for that oversight; his hand lashed out and caught whoever it was by the shoulder, throwing them in front of him and into the mud. They were screaming something,

"Don'tdon'tCHROMSTOPIT'SME!" A flash of yellow against the mire. That was all he saw as he cut down with his sword.

' _Lissa-'_ The word formed in his brain, and Chrom wrenched Falchion to the side. His sister lay on the ground, staring up at him and holding the silver gem out like it was a shield, or a peace offering. Falchion bit into the mud near her shoulder… too close to her neck.

' _Not- this isn't what I-'_ Chrom tried to speak, but his voice only came out as a croak. He swallowed again and again, trying to form words and fight back a wave of nausea over what had nearly happened.

"Chrom, please don't kill me. OR throw up on me. I'd appreciate it if you did neither of those things." Lissa managed. "Y-you can hear me though, can't you? You're there?"

She couldn't seem to believe her own eyes. He couldn't believe what he'd almost done. The glimmer of silver pushed reality back into his head, made everything a little less hazy. Falchion dropped from his trembling fingers, and Chrom collapsed on his knees, next to where Robin still struggled.

"…I regret cutting this reunion short." Came the general's voice, and Chrom flinched up to see him standing over all of them. "But it is the choice between your lives, and my men. I hope you can forgive me, and remain together in what lies beyond."

His words were heavy as the axe in his hand, flashing down.

Chrom's own hands were lead. He couldn't reach or lift the sword in time to block.

So instead he raised his empty hand, and stood up into the path of the cut. Chrom set his eyes on the blade, looking down his arm at it, and let his mind empty of everything except one thought.

The blade wouldn't harm any of them.

In the corner of his mind, something sparked and flickered back to life. Not blazing out of control like before, but instead a focused light. And there was a faint silver ringing in his ears, coloring his vision and sapping the red out.

His resolve hardened, and he didn't so much as flinch when the blade struck him. It skittered across his arm with a rasp and a shower of sparks. Chrom wrenched to the side and threw the blade off its path. His eyes fell on his arm for a moment; the sleeve was ruined and hung in rain soaked tatters... but there was no blood. Only the gleam of silver and blue tinged scales along his arm.

The Plegian general stared at him in confusion... until something cut into him and his expression settled into pain. Chrom caught a flutter of robes settling around Robin, from where she'd streaked up past him and torn a hole in the general's stomach.

"Well... fought." The man gathered just enough breath to rasp out. Then it was his turn to collapse to the mud.

And he didn't rise. All around them the army was in tatters. The soldiers bolted from Chrom and Robin both. They fled down the mountain paths, heedless of where they ran as long as they put distance between them, and the 'monsters' they were screaming about.

When Chrom exhaled again, only labored, strained breathing made it out. No more flames.

Robin was shaking, and he could see where scales and flesh were meeting together in a burning line. Her head turned up, scanning the area for more enemies.

"Robin, stop-" he didn't want to see what would happen if she found more to attack; the smell of blood stained past the dying adrenaline and sickened his senses.

Robin started from his voice, jolting her head up to look at him. Along the way she saw the silver gem still held out in Lissa's hand... and the red of her eyes dimmed.

Her eyes fell on him instead, took in the pattern of scales along his arm... and then her unchanged fingers cautiously reached out to brush over the skin. Something about the contact steadied her, and she gave a long shudder before slumping forward.

Chrom caught her up, and felt the cloth of her robe brush against his arm. He could feel again, he realized belatedly. Steam and fragments of scale rose up around both of them, and he saw the changes fall away from them. Leaving them just human, nothing more.

Robin let out a breath and shifted a little in his grip.

"So you didn't die after all... good." She finally managed. Her voice was just as unfocused as his had been, just a candle mark ago. He stared down at Robin, spattered with mud and turning her hand with a dull, shocked fascination.

 _'Well... and now what are we?'_ He looked down at his own palm. The glove had been shredded away, revealing skin... but only skin. The scales had already faded out, leaving his skin with an oddly raw feeling.

It didn't change what had happened to him, Chrom knew. It didn't change any of it. He looked up to where he knew the other Shepherds were, bracing himself for what he'd see in their eyes-

Only for a blur of yellow to barrel into his side. He almost toppled over from the force of it, and Robin had to push back against him to keep him upright. Chrom stared down at his sister as she sobbed into his chest, and he could just make out words from where her face was buried in the fabric.

"I was so, so... I thought you were _dead_ Chrom but you're not you're here and you're okay Gods don't you ever EVER do that again!" She punctuated the last with a feeble punch to his shoulder.

"You aren't-" Scared? Afraid? She'd yet to shrink from him; if anything she was holding onto him even tighter.

"I just wanted you BACK, Chrom. You and Robin both!" 'And I don't care about anything else' the tight hug told him. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, going limp with relief. Robin sagged against him as well, and he caught her giving him a tired smile.

That was when her expression flickered out, and she slumped down the rest of the way against him. With a belated start, he also realized that he couldn't hold either of them up. Not with how strength was seeping out of him in a cold sweat, now that the danger was gone. He was fading fast, and in a way he was grateful the last of the fire had gone out of him.

Lissa gave out a gasp when he fell away from her. Mud seeped into his clothing as his knees struck the ground. Robin splashed down as well, and her head listed to the side. At least the ground was soft, if cold and messy.

"After all that, you better not die..." he heard someone murmur out, and he wasn't entirely sure if it was him or Robin. Lissa fluttered around both of them, and his eyes drifted shut as he collapsed the rest of the way.


	23. Taming Dragons

**Chapter 23: Taming Dragons**

Waking up without knowing where he was, was sadly turning into a common theme. That was Chrom's first thought when he cracked his eyes open and saw there was a high stone ceiling above his head.

He knew the stonework from somewhere. Blinking at it for a few moments was enough to have the word 'Feroxi' click back into his head. Feroxi stonework, keeps-

Carriages that had been arriving to spirit them away. Chrom's eyes flew open at that, and the mattress creaked as he shoved himself up to stare around. He didn't get any answers straight away, aside from someone groaning close by to show he wasn't alone.

Chrom turned his head, wondering who else was there... and his eyes fell on Robin, her hair all spilled out on the pillow. She was half covered by sheets, a few bandages peeking out as they wrapped around her skin. Something brushed against his hand, and Chrom looked down to see that their fingers were resting together.

And that they were in the same bed.

...This situation was making less and less sense the longer he was awake, and Chrom was very sure that was the wrong order of things. Robin blinked her own eyes open... and then just stared at him when she realized the situation they were in.

"I thought I heard something-" a voice from outside made them both turn towards the doors. One of them was getting edged open, and a blonde head poked inside to look at both at them. A second later the door burst open all the way as Lissa rushed in with a whoop.

"THEY'RE AWAKE! Frederick, quick, quick! Go tell the others! They all need to know they're finally back!"

Lissa turned to Chrom and Robin, a massive grin on her face. Chrom's only response was to stare at her, and to TRY and get his mouth shut with mixed results.

"Lissa..." Robin sat up with a groan, rubbing at her head. "I'm still trying to think straight so forgive me if I don't get all the right questions in one go, but... why are we in Ferox, is everyone alright, what exactly are Chrom and I doing in the same bed, and _what happened to my pants?_ "

Lissa just nodded over the questions, ticking them off on her fingers as she replied.

"One, this is where we decided to recover since it was the closest friendly place we could reach. Two, yes everyone made it out of the fight and mostly in one piece... and to answer those last two, I TRIED to get you two in separate beds while seeing to your wounds!"

"Wounds...?" Chrom managed, looking down to see he was back to being swathed in bandages. He had the distinct feeling Lissa would yell at him if he tried picking those off... and he was still feeling too clumsy in the fingers to give it a try.

He stared at his sister, amazed she was still smiling. "...You said others? Is everyone still here...?"

His chest felt curiously numb as Lissa nodded. Like it should have been aching, but a blow that should have pierced it never landed.

"I... How did this happen? WHY are they still here? Why are you still here, too? Didn't you see what... what happened?" It was NOTHING like he'd been afraid of. Lissa just gave him a tired look and rolled her eyes, like he was a fool for not figuring it out yet.

"Well, you DID come back from the dead. You won a battle and an escape route for us. And... and I think everyone is just relieved they didn't lose you, too."

"Including you?"

"OF COURSE including me! You may be rash and make me worry but-" Lissa let her breath out in a sigh. "Gods. Chrom, I was terrified you were gone for good, either dead or mindless. I'm just glad you're back."

"And we have a lead on why that may be." Came a new voice from the doorway. Chrom sat up a little more and spotted a familiar, pointed hat over Lissa's shoulder.

"Miriel has been amazing with making sure the two of you are on the mend. She and the priest you rescued helped me with making sure you were stable." Lissa said, moving over to Robin's shoulder. He noticed that Lissa was carrying Robin's cloak, and helped the tactician slide it on around her shoulders.

"And now that you are awake, we can give this back to you." Miriel continued, and motioned for Libra to enter the room as well. The monk did so, striding to the side of the bed and pressed something into his hands. Chrom glanced down as his fingers ran over a familiar, smooth surface. The Emblem glimmered against the wane, Feroxi sunlight streaming in from the narrow windows. The silver gem was back in its socket as well.

"We kept it close while working on your wounds and treating your fatigue... truth be told, the Emblem appeared to have just as much of a hand in your recovery as any healing arts." Libra said. "You both looked and FELT like you were on the verge of sinking into a fever... but something stopped you from falling all the way into it. And when Lissa returned the gem, it pulled you back into a normal sleep."

"The arcane signatures are most curious. It appears there is a link between you and the shield. Almost like an anchor line that keeps your affliction from overriding you."

"And it is supposed to be blessed by Naga, right?" Lissa looked between Chrom and it. "So... maybe it does something to Naga's blood. Maybe it's what helps keep you human. And... maybe... maybe Emmeryn had an idea of that before any of us."

"...Emm." THEN the weight of what happened slammed full into him, and the expected ache returned to his chest. He slumped forward, drawing his knees up under the covers and resting his head against them.

"...Damn me." His words choked their way out. Maybe it would have been better if he had lost himself back in Plegia. Why would the gods take Emm, and leave him behind in her place? "I couldn't... I didn't save her."

He stared down at the Emblem, and his heart ached.

"It shouldn't have been her. It should have... I should have-" Sacrificed himself, or give up the Emblem. The hazy memories of fire and his own maddened howls hooked into his brain.

Chrom stared down at his hands; they were remarkably clean for someone who had spilled so much blood, and turned so much to smoke. Chrom's breath twisted out in a shudder and choked noise, his hands clenching and fingers curling inwards.

"Who am I to step up in her place? Why did she chose me?"

 _'Why did she save her monster brother-'_

"Chrom... listen to me. Look at me." Hands went to either side of his face, the contact gently tugging it back up. Robin had closed the distance between them, their faces almost touching.

"I can guess at what's going through your head right now. And you're NOT your sister, it's true. You don't have to be." Her eyes stared into his, trying to press the point home. "You're a strong and capable person without being her... and I believe you're worthy of taking up her rule. You've saved a lot of people; protected them and... given them something."

She took a deep breath, and he then saw that she was forcing herself to keep meeting his eyes when she wanted to duck her head or turn away. "...You saved me, too. Gave me a place, and confidence to become something better than a person without their memory. I want to return the favor now."

His own fingers shook as he touched her wrists, not sure if he wanted to pull her hands down, or cling onto them for dear life.

"What if I'm not worthy of her ideals? Robin, you saw what happened to me out there. What if it happens again... and I drag you down with me?" There was still a fire in both of them; his memories of the Midmire were all too clear on that.

"You'll get up and try it again. And you WILL succeed." Robin gave his shoulder a glance, eyes tracing the path of the scar and thumb mirroring the line in a path across his cheek. "You're right, I saw what happened to you... and I saw how you pulled yourself out of it. Look at where you are now; no one's given up on you Chrom. No one's left you." Her voice almost shook with... something. He couldn't quite pick out what emotion. "I won't either. If you fall down, I'll be there to pull you back up again."

Chrom breathed out, his eyes sliding shut as he took in Robin's words. And... gods help him, but her touch was something he needed, just then; just as much as her encouragement, and reminder that he wasn't completely lost.

"Th-thank you." Chrom managed. "I will... try, at least. I can't do much else, but I'll try."

"...Very good. Now then, if you are all done and resolve is back in our leader... perhaps we could allow milord and lady to put some clothing on." Frederick's voice interrupted the moment. Robin's hands yanked away from Chrom's face, and Chrom himself jolted his eyes back open to stare at Frederick. The knight waited in the doorway for the others to leave, motioning Miriel and Libra to leave. Lissa was the last out, before Chrom finally managed a "WAIT!"

"I, ah-Lissa. Still waiting on an explanation on that." Robin sputtered out. Chrom managed an agreeing hum, as he tried to scoot away with what little space was left on the bed. Lissa simply gave a theatrical sigh.

"Figures you'd both forget about how that happened. Chrom, we had to constantly pry your fingers off her, in order to separate you enough to work on your wounds. And SHE was clinging onto you just as hard. We couldn't even turn away without one of you latching back onto the other... you're both hopeless as patients. Just thought I should reiterate that." Robin said nothing, but Chrom wondered at the pink shade her ears were turning. "We ended up undressing you, since THAT was the only sure-fire way to get at your injuries, and decided since you were so subconsciously desperate to stay together, it wouldn't hurt either of you to be in the same bed."

"Anyways, don't worry. You're both decent enough, and well enough at this point to dress yourselves. Besides, I hear you've already seen everything anyway." With that revelation, she ducked out of the doorway, dragged Frederick with her, and left Chrom gaping after both of them.

He looked down to see Robin's fingers were still brushing against his, and her eyes shyly raised to look at him. He fumbled for something to say, and blurted out,

"This is a step up from throwing things at people."

"Only because I'm still working on getting my coordination back. Otherwise you and Lissa would BOTH be dealing with a pillow to the face... though I'd make sure you get the softer one, seeing that you're injured."

"I'm still trying to absorb everything, myself." He admitted. "I... Gods, did I really worry over Lissa? She's-"

"She's strong." Robin answered. "It's... a trait that runs in the family, I've found."

Chrom nodded at that. He only hoped he might feel some of that same strength, with whatever he had to face next.

 _'But at least it won't be alone. The people you love are still here. They never left.'_ Warmth worked its way into his chest at that, just shy of making his heart ache in a different way. When his eyes slid over to Robin, he caught her gaze lingering on him.

"It's a relief you made it through this alive. I don't know if I've brought that up enough times." Chrom found himself saying, completely on impulse.

"I'm grateful you're here. Because... I feel stronger when I'm with you." And felt ready to find his feet, and see what was waiting for him. Better that than linger too much on what was just said.

-o-o-o-

Stepping outside the room took more out of Chrom than he wanted to admit. Inside, still in the bedroom, he could imagine he was apart from the rest of the world.

But staying in there meant staying with Robin, and lingering over his words to her. The thoughts about her were something he found himself flinching away from, after he said his piece. That, and his emotions were still too raw, almost overpowering, to risk focusing on.

Better to face the rest of reality, first.

Though when he stepped into the Feroxi hall and saw Vaike waiting for him, it still FELT surreal enough. As did the grin Vaike flashed at Chrom.

"Hey, Chrom! Finally back up after all that?" He stared at Vaike, wondering. There was no tension, no wariness in Vaike's eyes. "Should've known you wouldn't stay down for long. And now I know why you're the only one who can keep up with 'ol Teach! You've got some pretty strong stuff up your sleeves. Or in your blood. Whichever."

"You... aren't afraid?" Chrom managed to say, trying and failing to get the dumbfounded look off of his face.

"Of course not! The Vaike knows no fear!" Vaike laughed out. "But... if you're feeling properly grateful for not being deserted on... you think you could get some sparring practice in with me since you're back on your feet? Not everyone can boast they've sparred against a dragon, after all!"

A strained, tired chuckle slipped out of Chrom's throat from Vaike's words.

"I'd like to focus on standing up first, and trying to walk in a straight line."

"Well, might as well get going. They're waiting for you."

It still felt strange to hear that word; 'they're.' More than one person, still around after all that had happened. All that he'd done. Chrom didn't know if he was desperate to find out who, or dreaded it.

Walking down that hall was proving to be a challenge; more than slogging through the mid mire had ever been, or fighting soldiers-

' _Not yet. Don't go back there yet.'_ His mind and heart both listened, thankfully. The tangle in his chest relaxed, letting Chrom focus on walking.

The hall reached above his head, yawning like an open mouth. The worn, blue trimmed rugs underfoot tugged at a memory in Chrom's head. "This is the Ferox Arena."

"The one and only. We decided to rest up here, since it was close enough to Plegia."

And he wasn't alone on his journey down the hall. In less than five steps, Chrom caught Sully and Stahl both shadowing his footsteps. A look of respect crossed Sully's features when she saw him keep his feet; Stahl was simply relieved. At the end of the hall stood Frederick and Lissa, waiting to open the doors for him.

The rest of the Shepherds waited for him behind the doors. They were scattered all across the audience chamber, some speaking among themselves, others with their eyes waiting on the door for him to appear.

"Back with us, finally?" Tharja said. "Good. Not everyone wants to listen to the voice of wisdom in this, even though I SAID you'd be fine. They preferred to worry over you while you slept off the trauma over a few days."

"Why are you all HERE!?" Chrom blurted out; his voice rang off the keep walls, sounding more bewildered with each echo. If the doors opening didn't draw everyone's eyes, his outburst did. A few of the Shepherds had wide eyes, but more from the volume of his voice than anything else.

He stood there, waiting for the situation to reverse. For someone to step back, to run now that he'd appeared.

"I… you saw what happened to me, didn't you? Why haven't you fled?" He trailed off helplessly, looking to the Shepherds for an answer. He found part of it in Sumia's gentle eyes.

"Well… because you're not a monster, captain. We all know you better than that." Nearby, Cordelia followed the statement up with a short nod. Nowi simply rocked up and down on her heels, nodding with a grin.

"I think I'm a pretty good example on how dragons can be good, right?" Tharja rolled her eyes at the bubbly words, but didn't argue the point either. The other Shepherds nodded, some of them showing the faint signs of smiles and relief.

"Besides, you're not roaring and breathing fire now." Maribelle added. "And Lissa believes in you staying the same; even if we didn't trust you, we'd trust her word and follow it… and if you would kindly close your mouth and stop looking like a codfish, I'd consider that thanks enough for our decision."

Chrom obediently shut his mouth with a click, long enough to get a breath and order his thoughts into words.

"I… really wouldn't have dared to hope for any of this." He finally managed. "I suppose-"

"That I had a point?" Robin's voice moved in over his shoulder, and he turned to see her wearing a tired, but satisfied look. "We… aren't completely lost after all, Chrom. I hope you can believe that now." He gave a small nod at that.

"You're right. If we're all still here, then perhaps…" Chrom trailed off when Frederick wouldn't meet his eyes. "What is it?"

"The Shepherds remain. However… some of our troops were not so steadfast in their loyalties, and took the liberty of retreating all the way back to the capital. Doubtless carrying tales with them." Chrom glanced down as well, a phantom burn trying to spread over his skin and make his face flush. He'd given the soldiers no shortage of stories to tell, either. Not with how many he'd bled, burned, and torn to shreds.

' _Just as much a monster as your father…'_ Gangrel's words haunted his ears again.

"Frederick… you fret too much." Maribelle answered, cutting off Chrom's thoughts. "They won't be the only ones telling stories."

"Indeed. You know, we've not been idle while you rested." Chrom looked up to see Virion moving closer. To his surprise, he was accompanied by someone new. Her hair was a bright red-pink. The armor and metal headband she wore was well worn... but also well polished and cared for. She stepped a little behind Virion, almost like an odd shadow as he spoke. "We knew it would be war of course; once the Plegians started moving closer to the border. They'll invade if we don't march soon. BUT, I hear you ask, what are we going to do about morale? What will stir the hearts of the people to follow their king-"

"I do believe he hasn't had room to ask any of that, with how you orate. Perhaps you could provide the answer now?" The lady provided, all with a sweet smile.

"...As always, milady Cherche, you cut to the heart of the matter. And cut a few nerves along the way." Virion's smile faltered for only a moment at that. "However-!"

"We've taken a few precautionary steps." Maribelle spoke over him, as Virion gaped at her. She continued on, heedless of how ruffled he was. "I had the idea to visit a few more of those quaint little... ah, pubs as Vaike calls them. With Virion and Stahl in tow, and all three of us cutting quite the spitting image of simple musicians!"

"...She hasn't lost her knack for winning people over. D-don't ask about how I got her to go to a pub in the first place. It's a long story." Vaike muttered.

"ANYWAY, before our visit, we all took care to compose an _authentic_ ballad about a royal with dragon blood." Virion finally managed to get some words in. "Or at least it is authentic enough, with the three of us singing it. I suspect that within a moon's turn, most other people will be singing it as well."

With that said, Virion put a satisfied look back on his face. "Normally I prefer the bards singing my praises, but I can step from the spotlight, for the good of the Shepherds."

"...I don't really get a choice in being this heroic figure, do I?" Chrom didn't know whether to sigh the words in relief, or groan them in frustration.

"I'm afraid not, my dear prince." Maribelle replied. "So do try to cut a noble and heroic figure out when we step back out there, will you? I would hate for all our good work to go to waste."

"Hm." Frederick spoke up at last, shaking his head. "That could help in bolstering our ranks. Though even then, I'm worried on what sort of numbers we might be facing... if Gangrel had no qualms in summoning Risen, he also won't rest until he has what he wants."

"...The Emblem." And just then, Chrom wasn't inclined to hand it over. _'I may have let Emm down once before... I won't disappoint her last wishes.'_

"I may need to correct you there as well, my good knight." Virion spoke. "We have a touch more help arriving as well, actually. Your Ylissean and Feroxi troops will have soldiers to bolster their ranks... though I hope you will treat them well."

"How-?" Chrom started to say, before he picked out the pride in Virion's voice. "...Your own forces? I thought you were an exile."

"An exile of fine means and connections! And with a very reliable retainer," he motioned to the woman he'd named Cherche. "Ever since the first attack on the border, I've asked her to look for other Roxanne refugees in a similar situation. Understand that their loyalty is to Roxanne first... but they are ready and willing to fight for a second home. If you promise to give them that."

"I can. If they're anything like you they'll probably be... eccentric, but also very capable and honorable fighters." Virion's mouth twisted half up in a sardonic, almost-smile to respond to that, accepting the half compliment.

"I'll take them into consideration with drawing up the battle plan, too." Robin spoke up. She'd closed the gap during the conversation, and looked over Virion and Cherche with a thoughtful light in her eyes. "Am I right to guess there will be archers in the company?"

"Along with a handful of horseback skirmishers... and wyverns. The pegasus knights will not have to take the skies alone, I can promise you that." Cherche answered her.

"Then... Chrom. If you'll accept my help... I'd like to try and make amends, for my mistakes." It was just a flicker in Robin's eyes, the way they widened for an instant as she spoke, and how her lips skipped downwards for a moment; that was the only sign she was shouldering, and hiding, a hurt of her own.

And just then, Chrom knew that he couldn't help her with it; not with the momentum now going, and the pains Robin was taking to hide it. So instead he answered "Of course. You understand me- US I mean. The Shepherds. I can trust you with making the right plans, for whatever is in our future."

Even if that future was a massive unknown factor, just then. Robin paused over his words for an instant. Her fingers gave a twitch, one at a time like a ripple... but that was as much as she moved, even though she glanced at his hand.

"Then in that case..." Robin nodded to his words and glanced to Lissa.

"Then we should start making preparations. You're going to be needing a change of wardrobe to live up to the new image." Chrom blanched at those words. He wasn't certain if that chuckle Robin and Lissa shared over his expression was encouraging, or something to dread.

 _'Just keep going.'_ Chrom told himself. _'And do your best to follow your own words, and trust them.'_


	24. At My Side

**C** **hapter 24: At My Side**

The Khans weren't much for mirrors. Chrom still fidgeted as he paced the great hall, wondering if the new raiment fitted properly. He hadn't asked for help in dressing; it had felt like something he needed to do himself. Like slipping into a new skin, something best done privately to give him time to reflect.

The new armor covered his chest like a strange, metal hide. In the back of his head, he thought the silver metal needed more blue in it, more mail to feel like a second skin. The rest of him did its best to silence that thought, and cling to the fact that he was human for now. And that meant he needed armor. Something bright and glimmering to help lead troops. His choice of cape still hung about his shoulders, and his original clothing meshed well underneath the gauntlets, greaves, and cuirass.

A knock echoed against the great doors. Since he stood alone in the hall, Chrom rushed to open them without a care for decorum. When he lifted a hand to pull the first door open, the new armor shimmered along his arm. The gold filigree on the edges caught the wane northern daylight, glimmering like a dozen tiny sunbeams. He flexed his fingers again, reminding himself that they ended in fingernails instead of talons.

And pulled the door of the main hall open. It was a smaller group waiting for him on the other side; the rest of the Shepherds were off making their own preparations. Sumia and Cordelia had even gone as far as flying ahead of the main force, to announce the Shepherds return to Ylisse… and Sumia would probably go out of her way to spread Maribelle's tale a little further. Chrom grimaced, and tried not to think about living up to that; instead he looked over the faces of Frederick, Lissa, and Robin. Lissa brightened for a moment when she saw the new outfit… then twisted her lips into a pouting frown and a scowl that said 'you have to be kidding me.'

"So let me get this straight. You'll carry the Fire Emblem into battle, you'll finally wear armor and look the part of the lord... but you STILL won't put on a sleeve over your arm!?" Lissa stared at Chrom, and he felt a little bit bare with how her eyes focused on his exposed shoulder.

"...I'm wearing gauntlets, doesn't that count?" Chrom tried.

"NO, Chrom! It most certainly does NOT count! Gods, why do you have to be so... so... asymmetrical?" In answer his hand up went up to his shoulder, and just barely touched the scar.

"Because... odd as it sounds, I feel like my skin there NEEDS to breathe. I can wear more traditional regalia when I have to, but... it feels like I'm suffocating. Or like I'm closed in. My arm doesn't move right, and I need it to feel unrestricted if I'm going to swing a sword."

Lissa lost a little of her irritation as she listened.

"...It's the brand, isn't it?" She stepped closer, looking over his shoulder. The scar tissue still crisscrossed his mark, easily severing it. "I've seen the same with Robin."

"…Right." Robin added. "I can try to wear gloves where I can, but… usually it's better if I keep it uncovered."

Lissa sighed, looking over it.

"It really is damaged, Chrom. And I don't just mean that in a cosmetic sense. I think... I agree with Robin, that the Brand is more than JUST a mark of Naga. I'm starting to think it acts like a seal of some sort. And with it broken, some of the magic isn't getting bottled up anymore."

Lissa sighed in defeat, and Frederick joined her in that; they'd accepted that point, at least.

"Well, asymmetry aside you DO look the part of a great lord… though there's one thing missing from the arrangement." Lissa raised her hands as she spoke, and the torchlight caught gold; a gold that echoed the trim of his armor, but glowed like fire. The Fire Emblem; still with them after everything, and not showing a trace of scarring from the battle in the Midmire. "Might as well complete the look."

His fingers shook when he tried to buckle the shield to his arm. He didn't FEEL like any legendary hero just then; certainly not fit to carry on the legacy of kings who came before him.

"Easy, Chrom. Let me give you a hand with that." Robin said, and her hands were a little more sure as they threaded the straps together. With the new shield in place, Chrom ran his fingers over the surface, the weight curiously light on his arm. His thumb paused at the empty circle in the top, and Lissa nodded to Robin.

"One last piece to complete it." The tactician supplied. Lissa reached out with the silver gem in her hands. The color was almost like dragon scales, Chrom thought for a split second. Then Lissa place the gem into the socket of the shield…

…And somehow, he felt a little better. A little more certain. And more than capable of making the trip back to Ylisse and rallying the troops.

"You're right." He sighed out. "It really does do something to help. I feel… calmer. More sure of myself."

"I didn't think I would believe it… but you do seem to be more at ease." Frederick said; and the knight had already glimpsed several unbelievable things, Chrom knew. "And I don't doubt you can step in to lead the Shepherds; with your permission, I'll see to rallying the last of them."

"Th-thank you, Frederick." Chrom managed; the knight simply bowed his head. "And… I'm sorry for all the grief I've caused you. I'll try to make up for it, and soon."

Frederick glanced up with only his eyes. His gaze had softened.

"We both have things to make up for, milord. But I can accept these plans." Chrom gave a nod, and Frederick followed it with a bow, before leaving for his task… and taking Lissa with him. His sister glanced over her shoulder as she left, but seemed content with what she saw.

The relieved look she shot him, however, sent a spur into his heart.

' _I have… a lot to make up for. After putting them through that.'_

"You'll prove yourself." Robin said, and with a jolt Chrom realized his thoughts had made their way into his voice.

"I'm… just worried I'll fail. I have… I STILL have a lot of living up to do. Emm was-" he couldn't leave her fall and death behind that easily, Chrom knew. He could bury it under layers of tasks and focusing only on what he had to do… but it wouldn't stay smothered forever.

"You know... I was always desperate to wield Falchion." Chrom admitted. Robin's eyes followed the path his hands traced over the scabbard. "I wanted to be like the hero kings, always fighting for my people. I'd pretend that as a boy, playing with practice swords. Emmeryn used to scold me for being so quick to go for a blade... and I always told her she could be the peacemaker, since she liked it so much."

He let out a dry chuckle.

"Childish sibling arguments... but I think I carried it all the way to the present. Even when I saw what my father did in the name of the Exalt's line, I still wanted to be a soldier... but I always kept imagining myself protecting villages. So in a lot of ways, I did get to be exactly what I wanted when I formed the Shepherds. But I dedicated so much time to being that, I never…"

He still couldn't convince himself he was fit for Emm's legacy.

"...You don't have to stop being that." Robin murmured, silencing his thoughts. "You've seen we haven't turned from you."

"Even with everything I've done?" He half wanted to raise a hand to her face, brush her hair aside and be certain there were no scars left. Not from his fire, or how she'd been forced to harness it to save both their skins.

"Chrom… You still want me to be on as a tactician?" She suddenly asked. "My plans… they couldn't save Emmeryn, either."

There was the vulnerability showing in her eyes again, leaking into her voice in how heavy it went.

"Of course! One mistake doesn't mean-" he stopped short as the point hit him. And a smile ghosted across Robin's lips, the first he'd seen in a long time.

"...Then the same should be the same for you, Chrom. I believe you can be a protector. In a way... in a way this power isn't that different from a sword. It's terrible, and it can be deadly..." She pinched at her nose, trying to concentrate on the point. "But it can be something that protects. It's kept you alive, it saved the Shepherds in the Midmire… You have to be capable of harnessing it, and not being controlled by it. At least, that's what I hope for."

' _And I'd sooner see her in control of it, too. Still at my side.'_ Chrom dipped his head, acknowledging her words.

"I… I'll hope for the same. And for better or worse, we'll have a chance to test that. And the Shield as well. Plegia won't hesitate to finish what they've started; I've heard the reports that Gangrel's been marshaling more troops. Speaking about how Ylisse harbors monsters, and they'll have to kill us before we attack them." Chrom sighed out. "And… I want him to answer for what he's done. We won't have peace until then. So…"

"So I'll stay by your side, until you win the peace. I… can't promise if my plans will succeed against him. But I'll do everything in my power to keep you, and the Shepherds safe." She seemed to want to promise something more… but the road back to Ylisse was waiting for them. And Chrom knew he couldn't put off traveling on it any longer.

Robin echoed his footsteps. Close enough that he could hear her, yet agonizingly far from his reach. With the sounds in his ears, Chrom also wondered how long he could put off expressing the thing trying to beat out of his heart.

-o-o-o-

Returning to Ylisse was a terror. There was no triumph this time, no cheering people. Chrom wanted nothing more than slink back to the palace under the cover of night; let no one see him, or the Shepherds. He didn't want to know what sort of stories were circulating about him, even with Maribelle and Virion's best efforts.

But what he wanted didn't matter; there was a crowd waiting for him on the other side of the gates, and he had to walk through the main gate to meet them. He didn't ride this time; he didn't trust in his ability to stay seated on a horse… and doing that would make him feel elevated, more detached from everyone else.

It was a somber, quiet mood that waited him. Underneath the gates, and a leaden, gray sky. No cheers this time, no waves from the crowd. Just watchful, careful eyes, trying to find some sort of judgment on just what he was. Some whispered 'blessed?' others asked 'monster?' None of them were in certain terms.

"I…" Chrom tried to speak, to break the near wall of silence that waited him. He noticed that the crowd wasn't in a hurry to part for him, either. The eyes that watched him were tinged with wariness… and it was like being pelted with stones all over again, under that look. All the eyes bit into him, made him want to mount up after all and spur his horse to the castle.

Lissa stopped him short, walking up beside him. She still had no fear in her eyes, at least towards him.

"They need words, you dope." She muttered, tilting her head to the crowd. "C'mon, I know you have them; just say what we talked about in Ferox."

Chrom forced himself to nod, then raise his head to look at the crowd. The people moved restlessly, undecided as they watched him.

"I know…" He raised his voice a little more, to better be heard. "…I know I'm not the Exalt you'd prefer. I'm not my sister."

Lissa gave a confused squeak beside him, with how he opened that speech. The crowd likewise shifted and murmured, confused at that statement. Chrom didn't allow the nervousness to grow into more than a whisper, continuing over it.

"I have a lot to prove; that I'm not…" he swallowed around the dryness that tried to latch around his throat. "Not a warlord. A despot… a monster." It wasn't his imagination, that so many eyes were drawn to his shoulder. "And before I can prove any of that, I need to win you peace. I have to make sure my sister's sacrifice wasn't in vain… and I need to ask you all to wait, because of it. Wait and see if I can prove myself to be the man to follow in her footsteps. And if not, well… you have another heir to follow."

Lissa flinched next to him, and Chrom sent her a silent apology. This also wasn't part of what they'd talked about... but just then he needed a second plan. In case he DID somehow fail. Even if it meant pulling Lissa up into a similar role, and sharing a part in that uncertain leadership.

"But… I ask for a chance to prove myself, first. That's all." He didn't sound like a monster to his own ears, at least; demanding they give him dues, roaring and spitting fire, or swearing only vengeance against Plegia.

He was still left holding his breath, waiting to see the answer to his words. It came when the crowd took a collective breath, and slowly drew back to open the path to the castle. Chrom walked past them all, catching a few glances; not fearful, but… waiting. Waiting to see if he could follow through on his words, after all.

Or if he'd fail them, and live up to the rumors of being a monster after all.

-o-o-o-

The castle, washed with faint sunlight, wasn't the reprieve he'd hoped for.

Chrom knew that from the restless energy that filled him. Sent him to pulling off the armor, now that he had no one else to impress. And pacing the halls while the Shepherds took their breath and prepared for the next battle. His own wounds had closed in Ferox, and he'd long since shed the bandages; one more effect of the mark and its power, it seemed.

But that left him with a need to be up and moving. And it also meant he wandered into places he shouldn't have gone; older parts of the castle, steeped with memories. Chrom drifted, letting those fill him and take his mind off the looming campaign-

Until he stopped at a doorway, the room beyond catching his eye.

Chrom froze at the threshold, staring into the room. Decorated with furniture carved from pale wood, cushioned by soft green cushions, and the sunlight streaming in through the windows. This had been one of Emm's favorite places; a quiet place to retreat when she needed to. Seated at one of the tables, enjoying the day or standing at the balcony to look out at her halidom.

But Emmeryn wasn't there. The room was a pale void, like seeing someone with a gaping hole in their chest.

Tears ran down his face, prickling and hot on his cheeks. Chrom couldn't bring himself to wipe them away, or break his vision from the room.

Maybe he stood there for seconds, minutes, or a solid hour; Chrom wasn't certain, and the weight in his chest drew all his thoughts away from time. What brought him back was a light line drawn down the side of his arm. And a voice.

"Chrom?" He blinked away the tears, tried to raise his arm to scrub his face clean… but stopped when he felt Robin's touch still on his skin. He didn't want to break from that, just yet. His cheeks still went hot, bringing out the scalding trails from where he cried.

"Sorry… you shouldn't have to see me like-" like this, broken and embarrassed over how he couldn't fix himself into being a strong leader. Robin always seemed to have a knack for seeing him at his lowest, and most exposed.

She only shook her head at the words, and lifted a hand up to touch the side of his face. Her thumb was a cool contrast against his skin, wiping the tears away for him.

"D-don't apologize." But if her touch was sure, her voice shivered and her eyes were wide; like the rest of her couldn't believe how bold her hands were. "And don't feel like you can't cry. We- we all lost a leader. You lost something more,"

Robin shook her head. "…And I'm supposed to be helping you, not making it worse by reminding you. Walk with me again?"

Her fingers fell from his face, going to his hand instead. With the lightest tug Chrom found himself going along with her. And they walked. With very little conversation, instead moving side by side and matching their steps.

It was enough for Chrom, just then. He didn't even notice the sun setting and the stars coming out, until their wanderings took them to one of the balconies. With a start he realized they were close to the room that triggered his sadness. He could smell the gardens below, the rainy season flowers starting to bloom and give the air a sweet quality. That too pushed a sense of melancholy back into him... though it faded when Robin made a soft "oh" that lifted his head.

Chrom paused over the sight beyond the balcony. A cloud of wings obscured the setting sun; not the same webbed wings that still haunted his dreams, but instead-

"Butterflies?" Robin asked in confusion. There were dozens of them in the sky, their blue wings streaked in silver patterns, and colors shifting with each beat of their wings. An ethereal sight, and one he hadn't even known he'd been missing, until now.

"Luxine. A seasonal butterfly." Chrom murmured, watching the glowing blue wings. They caught the fading daylight to lend an extra shimmer to the colors.

"They emerge with the turning of the seasons, bringing light back into the world." Chrom held a hand up as he spoke; one of the butterflies drifted closer, casting a faint blue light on his skin. "I... I forgot it was already that close to the winter equinox."

"I'd just as easily forget it's winter. Does Ylisse even know what snow is?" Robin answered, eyes on the shimmering creatures. Wing beats alternating between pale blue, sky blue, and white silver light.

"Only the most northern reaches. Which I won't complain over; I enjoy seeing them."

"I think that's something we have in common, then."

"One of many things." Chrom corrected, surprised at his own boldness. It inspired him to continue. "There's a... a story about them, too."

"Your country has no shortage of those, I've noticed." Robin said with a short laugh. Chrom nodded, eyes moving between her and the butterflies flitting around her hair. In the pause, Robin filled it in with "...tell me? It's been a while since the last tale, and I enjoy learning them from you."

"It's not a grand tale like the others. And I'm pretty sure it's purely fanciful, unlike everything else. Hopefully I didn't just tempt fate with that." Chrom added wryly. "But since you asked... Luxines are held to be a sign of Naga's reach and influence. They're supposed to be her light, manifest in darkest times, and a symbol of, well... hope."

Robin watched the insects, tilting her head as she listened.

"Miriel could probably tell you all about why they emerge now and why this season is favorable for them. But I just know the fireside version of the story. They're one of the few 'big bugs' as Lissa calls them, that she'll tolerate. And Emm-" Chrom cursed himself for opening his mouth just then.

"Emm... enjoyed seeing them." There was that raw feeling burrowing back into his heart. Still painful but-

 _'But not as bad as before.'_ Looking at Robin, Chrom was certain he knew why. Even if his eyes were back to stinging.

"…It's not going to ever go away for good, is it?" Chrom admitted at last. "Feeling hurt, like there's a hole in me. There's always going to be something that tears it wide open again. Wondering if I'm going to lose myself again whenever it hurts."

Robin had nothing to say to that; just meeting his eyes and pressing her thumb to his palm for a brief moment. Reminding him he wasn't alone in this.

"So… I'm glad I have you with me." The words slipped out before Chrom's grief wracked brain had time to think. Sorrow faded out in favor of shock when he heard himself, and he rushed to follow it up. "N-not just in this. You've been next to me through a lot. Sometimes it's hard to believe you haven't been with me all the time, or imagine not being with you-"

Unfortunately he didn't really think about what he was saying, in favor of babbling. And the heat was back in his cheeks. Robin was going a shade of pink too. But there was also something else flickering across her face; something resolute.

"Chrom… slow down for a minute. Because I- I have something to say, too."

-o-o-o-

"I have something to say, too." Even if Robin couldn't believe the words tumbling out of her. But if the valve was open on Chrom's feelings, the same could be said for her. She felt like she'd been swept up, and could do nothing but swim with the current.

 _'And... didn't you promise yourself you'd tell him?'_ She could probably make more excuses, that since they hadn't saved Emmeryn, she didn't have to hold herself to it. _'But... I don't want to run from it. I don't want to break my word again.'_

And with the way Chrom watched her, it felt like she couldn't hide any longer. Not with the lost, searching quality to his eyes.

"I... also sometimes have a hard time imagining what it would be like, without you." He'd given her a place to belong. A purpose. And... her heart still ached, even with those things. "And I'm terrified of how selfish my heart is. Or how I never want to leave your side."

Or how she wanted to brush that lost look away with her fingers. Robin's hands twitched at her sides, desperate to move up and craving contact. But she stubbornly kept them there, and focused on speaking.

"I feel like I'm half of a heart, or a whole. And I hate admitting that, because it means that I KNOW I'm not complete. But... I don't want to ignore it either." Did he understand what she was saying? The way his eyes went wide seemed to suggest that. Though Robin could have gone without the way he looked like he'd just been punched in the gut. "I- I don't want you to think that it's your fault or anything like that. It's just... how I feel. To be honest, I'm still terrified talking about this is a bad decision; I don't want you to be distracted from more important things-"

"...What makes you think there's something more important than you?" His voice was hushed when he murmured that out. Robin stared at him, wondering if she'd heard right. "I... was terrified you wouldn't feel the same. But instead we were both... I guess we were both afraid of the same thing."

The smile he offered her was a meek one, his cheeks still faintly pink with embarrassment. He opened his mouth... but his voice failed him for a second. And his fingers curled out, looking ready to take her hand like so often before... but not reaching all the way. Waiting for her, instead.

"Chrom," Robin whispered his name out, half afraid that speaking too loud would cause the moment to shatter.

"Chrom..." And somehow, sighed out like that and with his eyes resting on her, his name took on a different sound. A different feel in her mouth. He must have heard the difference too, with how his eyes widened and his lips parted.

"Robin, I don't know what's going to happen to us, what happens when I say the words... but I _know_ this; I can't go without telling you any longer. And no matter what, I-"

Was he really about to say what she thought he was? His voice was growing more and more hushed, and so he stepped closer to Robin. The butterflies swirled around them like a radiant, living snow.

"I... I feel the same. I love you. I always have... even if it took me a small eternity to realize it."

Her throat couldn't decide if it wanted to laugh or cry, and settled for giving a hiccup. Robin rested her head on Chrom's shoulder, letting her breath shudder out with more of those half and half sounds. Chrom answered by wrapping his arms around her, and resting his head against hers. His sides fluttered, and it seemed he couldn't figure out whether to chuckle or cry in relief, either.

She didn't know how long they stood like that, calming their breathing and matching it to the other. Simply wrapped up in the other's presence and warmth. But finally Chrom lifted his head, brushing their cheeks together while he spoke.

"I agonized over this for so long, what your answer might be... I admit, I'm a little lost on what comes next." Robin raised her head as well, lifting a hand from where it had wrapped around his shoulder. The butterflies had all dispersed, she realized; gone with the last light of the sun.

 _'But it's ok; I think we have our own hope to hold onto, now.'_

"Now... now we have a war to win. We have to prove to everyone that you're an amazing person. We lead our troops to victory and peace." Robin traced a thumb over his cheek, her voice soft. "And then afterwards, we act on our feelings... my love."

She risked adding that on, and paused over the lightness those two words pushed into her. The grin Chrom gave her was stronger than before, and his eyes brightened at those same words.

"My love." He repeated. For a moment she thought he'd lean in to kiss her... but instead he tightened his arms around her, holding her close so their foreheads and noses bumped together. "Then to get us through this, I swear this promise to you... I'll build a peaceful world for you; the one who is the wind at the back, and the sword at my side."


	25. Edge of Madness

**Chapter 25: Edge of Madness**

The plain was empty, save for the howling of the wind. Chrom let the breeze stir his hair and tease his head towards the sky. In the corner of his vision, Robin did the same. She tilted her head back a little further to feel the wind, but slid her eyes open enough to give him a wondering glance.

"...Still wanting to get up into the sky?" She asked him, and Chrom ducked his head back down in a slightly bashful gesture.

"...I do, a little." Chrom admitted. There _was_ still a twitch in his skin, a tiny stitch between his shoulders that wanted to stretch out and be something more.

"But," he halted that feeling with his words. "I can manage. Lissa was right about the Emblem. I think there's a reason they call this the Shield of Seals." He rolled his shoulders, lifting his arm to show the golden shield. "I might not be up to standard with my shield skills, but I can still carry it into battle with the gemstone. It might help morale."

"AND keep you human for the most part." Robin shot back. "That's not an insignificant detail, you know. We need you to rally the troops and lead them to victory."

Chrom snorted at that. "What made you think it's just for my sake that I'm bringing it to battle?"

The words escaped him before he could think. Robin paused at them, lifting a hand to try and wave of his concerns... but then paused when she saw her own mark. His eyes were fixed on it, and the itch in his shoulders faded out completely, in favor of a twist in his stomach. The violet color was still rich against her skin.

 _'Almost overpowering. And I can't... I won't let it put her at risk again.'_

"...I don't want a repeat of the Plegian castle, OR the Midmire. I'm not the only one who needs to keep my control. That means we both stay sane when the battle starts..." Chrom dropped his voice with the next words. "So please, stay close?"

And maybe this time, they would be strong enough. And their first failure in Plegia wouldn't haunt them.

"...I can do that." Robin allowed. She wasn't quite meeting his eyes, instead looking down at the silver gem. And drawing some strength from it, he hoped. "I don't want to lose another leader. Or... another person I care about."

She lowered her hand again, her fingers stretching out for the briefest moment. They ghosted over his wrist, a quiet reassurance that she'd stay with him.

"I keep telling myself we'll be alright. That we have to be okay for our troops, and ourselves..." Chrom said, and let his breath out in a long sigh. His eyes scanned the hill for scouts, but none had returned just then. Somewhere across the hills, Chrom knew, the Feroxi main force would be marching on the Plegians. Ideally the Ferox forces would catch Plegia in the flank, baiting and driving them up further north where the Shepherds would be waiting for them. "...They're all risking a lot for me. I want to be able to live up to it, and be the leader they deserve. I don't want to fail them by being... something else."

He looked back down to his hands, like he was expecting them to turn to talons and scales, just from the barest hint of battle.

"...You will. You'll lead them well, I mean." Robin spoke up. She smiled as he met her eyes, instead of watching for signs of transformation.

She scanned the battlefield again. "This isn't a bad spot to fight," she reflected. "Wider space to move than some of the skirmishes we've had."

Below them, the ground opened up to a wide plain, hemmed in by forest and scrub lands in parts. They'd have the advantage of open ground and cover, if they played their cards out right.

And if all went according to plan. Which Robin didn't look fully confident about. Not with how her shoulders slumped, and she stared at the field with a frown creasing her face and killing off her smile.

Chrom also didn't think it was his imagination, that her fingers twitched in time to the wind's call. "I... I can FEEL something stirring in the back of my head, but it doesn't feel like it's trying to force its way out. More like it's waiting for me to call on it, if I need to."

"Yeah, something a lot like that." Chrom answered. "I think-"

"Chrom, sir?" A new voice behind them. Chrom turned and saw one of Virion's men on a horse, Frederick riding close by. Behind them, Sumia stood at her pegasus' head and calmed the restless animal.

"Reports from the field?" Chrom asked, snapping to attention. Robin bolted her head back up, shedding her doubt for the moment.

"Several." The scout answered. "We know the Feroxi forces are holding their own so far... better than that, actually. We are advised to hold our position, and wait for the enemy to come to us."

"They're that badly pressed?" Robin spoke up, eyebrows creasing together. "But I thought Gangrel had the full force of his army with him."

"He did. Formerly... but there have been divisions in the ranks." Frederick answered. "Men are throwing down their weapons, and deserting en masse. I spotted it myself, from the next hill over."

Chrom wondered over the pause in his voice, before he continued.

"...They are chanting Emmeryn's name."

He felt like the wind had been knocked out at him, staring at Frederick. Finally he managed to rasp out, "Emm?"

His hands went to the Emblem, tracing the sockets again to try and ground himself.

"So that... That was what you wished them to know. I wish I'd seen it sooner..." He shook his head. It would be a long, long time before he felt equal to carrying her burden with any amount of pride or confidence. He lifted his eyes for a moment, and they fell on Robin. And he remembered her words in Ferox, and in Ylisse.

"...But I can start by winning this battle for you. And a lasting peace." He murmured. He could wield a blade for that... and keep his blood calm, he prayed. His brand gave a gentle pulse as he drew his hand from the Emblem. Chrom wondered though, if there wasn't something reassuring about the tempo now.

Maybe, just maybe, he could use that the same as Falchion. As something to protect them all.

"I'll report back to the men." Frederick supplied. "Virion tells me that his own soldiers are ready to strike on your orders."

"Right... get in position then."

-o-o-o-

A ripple moved along the line of Shepherds, stirring to the rumble that spilled across the hills. With each breath the sounds became clearer; the crash and clatter of steel, and a steady roar of combat.

"Stand ready..." Frederick murmured, glancing along the lines... and eyes constantly going back to Lissa. For her part, Lissa was tempted to yell at him to keep his focus forward and wait for the signal.

She was here, and there was no way she'd be spending time on the sidelines. She, Anna, and Maribelle would all have their hands full with healing soon enough. Maribelle sat on her mare, hands constantly busy with dusting off imagined flecks of dust. Lissa kept her hands tracing over the carving on her staff, nervous in their own right.

Anna was the one medic who seemed to be composed. And up ahead, at the very top of the hill and drawing the eye, were Chrom and Robin. And if they weren't relaxed like Anna, they weren't constantly fidgeting like Lissa or Maribelle. Almost as if fighting was becoming routine for them.

 _'I should've known something was off with them.'_ The signs and hints had been there, waiting for her. But she'd been willfully blind to them.

But now there was a new thing showing up. Something it seemed no one else had picked up on... and something that Lissa wasn't entirely in a hurry to bring to anyone's attention. But she hadn't missed how Chrom and Robin had been orbiting each other, rarely without the other's company.

Or that faint touch they'd just shared, and the confidence it lent them.

 _'If we weren't in a the start of a battle...'_ Lissa thought to herself. She didn't have time to smile or do anything other than focus on healing. But she now had a reason to see everyone through safe and sound, so she could gloat over figuring it out first.

"I'm not sure if I'm relieved or not that he isn't spitting fire." Anna remarked. "To be honest, a dragon would be pretty useful with clearing the Plegian guard right now."

"They're throwing down their weapons," Lissa pointed out. Anna favored her with a sideways glance, and a wry smile.

"Some, but not all. I've been in Plegia, before. I've seen something of how Gangrel operates; the soldiers he's surrounded himself with are going to either be too well paid, to proud of their skill, or too afraid of Gangrel himself to turn tail. There's going to be some fighting yet."

"Then… Chrom is going to need to be human for it. To prove he's better than Gangrel." Lissa answered.

"Milord can win this battle. That is without question." Frederick spoke up, pausing his horse in front of Lissa and putting him at eye-line with Maribelle. But despite the certainty in his voice, there was also a wariness in his eyes; a worried crease that Lissa doubted had much to do with the battle ahead and its effects on the troops under his command. And everything to do with the prince ahead of them.

"You say that… but I think you've traded one worry for another." Sumia spoke up, shadowing Frederick. _'Looks like books aren't the only things she's good at reading.'_ Lissa thought, watching Frederick stiffen up from the observation.

"I-I keep my fears in check. I'd hope I make that clear enough now… and I hope all of you will do the same, and soon."

"For shame, sir knight." Anna answered. "I'm ALWAYS ready. You keep me on my toes. Probably as much as the Mad King is going to be on his."

Anna waved a hand to stop any questions. "I've done my share of trading in the desert kingdom, remember? You pick up stories, particularly when people need to talk about the latest round of personal executions the King has carried out, to get it off their minds."

Anna turned her eyes back to the horizon. "Gangrel is supposed to be fast on his feet. I can weave out of the way of swords and arrows… and he's supposed to make me look like a slug. So our Prince is going to have a task ahead of him… and we're going to be hard pressed to keep up."

Lissa couldn't give an answer to that, as the roar of an incoming army had reached a deafening pitch. And just as Anna predicted, they were about to have a tough time keeping up with the leaders.

-o-o-o-

They didn't have long to wait.

Chrom yanked his head up, at a faint blur of motion. His eyes found the first figure moving in through the trees.

His eyes sharpened, and the heat in his blood picked up. The blurriness of the figure vanished, and Chrom could have been standing right next to the person with how exact his vision was. He saw a figure in red, bones strung about his shoulders for armor. A forward scout for Plegia.

The scout must have also seen Chrom standing upon the hill, with what looked like a pitiful force surrounding him. A raised voice echoed across the hills, calling for them to charge the 'freak prince' before anymore could come to his aid.

Chrom bit down at the shame trying to coil in his gut over the words. Instead he glanced around at his own force, trying to stand proud for them. He knew that it really didn't look like much; just a few of the Rosanne fighters, and the last of the pegasus knights standing at attention.

The tiny display got the Plegian force to charge hard out of the forest with a howl for blood. Chrom knew HE was the focus of it, but he still held firm as he watched. It was a sizable force; none of the desertions had happened in these ranks, he got the feeling... and when he saw the figure in yellow and red, he knew why.

The king's words shot across the wide plain like shots fired from a bow, as the man's eyes focused on Chrom.

"Oh THERE you are, Princeling! I see you decided to grace us as a man instead of a beast. How long do you intend to keep the facade up?" Chrom's grip tightened around Falchion's hilt, and he glared across the plain at Gangrel. "Oh, and you've been good enough to bring the Fire Emblem along as well! You know how to make a war entertaining, I'll give you that!"

Chrom felt something hot grow through him, and kept his fingers tight. Not allowing Gangrel to bait him into a strike or a charge just yet.

"You've done a poor job of taking it so far." Was his answer, shouted just as loud... and to his satisfaction, he saw the troops begin to charge.

He lifted Falchion up, and the blade caught the afternoon sunlight in a brilliant flash. Robin caught the signal, and she and Frederick's voices both echoed out to either ends of the line.

"LOOSE!" As the Plegians made their way into range, thundering towards Chrom, the archers and spell casters both stood on the hill crests and marched forward to step into range. A salvo bit into the opposing soldiers, and the line almost collapsed from the onslaught. Almost. Instead others took up the charge... but in fragments, instead of a solid wall. Gangrel urged them all on with curses. The main force still moved towards Chrom and Robin, but a few chunks split and tried to attack the ranged fighters on the field.

The ranged attacker's action was to keep firing, while Robin shouted out "Advance!"

Frederick's cavalry had waited for that, and swung around the base of the hills. The heavily armored horses crashed into the exposed flank first, sending a shock through the army. Frederick's force reigned up hard, cutting their way out before the Plegian army could retaliate.

Hit and run tactics that left few of theirs injured, but the forces in disarray. But still the Plegians charged on with a scream for blood. Gangrel had added threats to his methods of spurring them on. They were ready to cut into the spell casters and archers, and at least route THEM-

Only to be met with the foot fighters. He could see Vaike, Lon'qu, and Gregor leading the infantry, lunging forward and then settling down just in front of the ranged fighters and forming a wall of steel the Plegians clashed against... and broke against, as the mages fired more spells over the heads of the defenders.

The Plegian line was already collapsing, losing the momentum of their charge and instead trying to force back the duel onslaughts. Gangrel's words bled together now, extorting, vile insults, even promising a king's ransom for whoever punched through to kill Chrom.

"That's our signal." Robin murmured, already drawing her own blade. One spell tome was at her side, ready for use as well.

She, Chrom, and the reserve troop moved down the hill, driving like a wedge through the remaining troops.

Chrom sliced his way towards the king, feeling his shoulder start to throb... but the mark still waited for him to act. Chrom allowed a little power to seep out; just enough to keep his steps light and his strikes sure.

Gangrel's face was visible for one instant, before he was closed around by a sea of steel. Axes, swords, spears, all aiming for Chrom's heart. Chrom was suddenly glad for the fire in him, and how it kept him dancing between the strokes.

 _'Robin?'_ He thought for one instant and traced his eye over to her. But she was still there, right at his side as promised... and he could see the mark on her hand, pulsing. Sending a collection of red burning lines tinged with purple out through her veins. He was sure his own brand was a mirror for hers, simply with blue instead of violet. Chrom felt a smile trying to force its way to his lips over how simple it was to fight.

He forced it back down. And remembered where he was.

They were a whirlwind together, and he knew they were outpacing the troops. But the thought didn't scare him. Swords tried to close in around them... but it was like their enemies were blundering through mud, while their own steps were on perfect ground. The heat didn't matter to him anymore; instead it drove him on instead of bogging him down.

Robin was a match for him, her hair streaming out behind her as they both melted into a dash. Striking out with swords as they darted through the foe, a jab here to keep someone back, a slash to throw an enemy down for good, or to push back a spear and lop the head of it off. He knew then that they could win this-

"WILL YOU JUST DIE!" A voice screeched into his ear, like knives on his hearing. Chrom yanked his head up and stared as a bolt of magic slashed its way out of the sky with a crackle.

That wasn't one of Robin's.

"LOOK OUT!" She screamed, and smashed her shoulder into his. A pulse of pain wracked through him as he went to the ground with a grunt, and stared up. Robin shuddered as the spell thundered into her, and she slumped forward.

He saw the enemy line open up then, and Gangrel stood in front of them. His face was a picture of fury, and he threw himself at Chrom with a howl. Chrom lurched back to his feet, surging past Robin to stop Gangrel from cutting either of them down.

A circle was forming around them, Chrom knew. He and Robin had just cut their way to the back of the lines to where troops were thin... and he knew none of them would close with them now. Not after they'd sliced through so many, and encouraged them to stay back. He also knew that somewhere, the Shepherds were keeping the rest of the soldiers busy.

Leaving him to deal with the mad king.

-o-o-o-

It was no silver spear in his hand, and Frederick keenly felt the difference. A steel spear acted as a replacement. The weapon had a different weight, but remained capable at turning aside swords and axes, and punching through any gaps in the defense. It didn't hurt that the soldiers recognized Frederick as one of the main knights, and decided he could use a few more cuts.

And despite Frederick's best efforts, his own armor had gained rents. The same as his skin, bleeding and mingling with sweat.

 _'But I won't fall.'_ Frederick told himself. No matter what it did to him, he'd draw the blades and eyes of the main force, to give Chrom whatever opening he needed.

And Frederick wasn't fighting alone. There were others who, if they couldn't keep up with the commanders, could at least watch the backs of their comrades. Sumia easily shadowed him overhead, diving in where she could.

And the new recruit, Cherche, did an admirable job of working with Virion and her own countrymen to keep the skies free of arrows. Again and again, her throwing axes cut arcs through the sky and forced ground-bound troops to keep their heads low.

To Frederick's shock, Anna was easily keeping the pace with him, despite being on foot. The merchant's eyes scanned the battlefield with trained familiarity, picking out where she needed to be to either hurt or heal.

"By the way, Frederick? I... get the feeling-" Anna paused long enough to speak to him. But she took too long to finish her sentence; a streak of lightning stole her words. And the feel of it was different from Robin's spells.

"I was going to say MAYBE get closer to Chrom, but scratch that! ABSOLUTEY GET CLOSE and cover him!" Anna yelped out, spinning around and cutting into the troops. Through the forest of spears, Frederick saw Gangrel closing with Chrom.

"Oh-" Overhead Sumia gave a strained noise, then dove down like a falcon to join Frederick. The cuts Frederick picked up didn't stop him from putting heels to his horse, and galloping hard to the main fight.

-o-o-o-

Chrom twisted into a new fighting stance and met Gangrel's blade, staring at how it crackled with energy. The blade was a strange shape, jagged and looking almost like a bolt-

"A Levin blade?" He couldn't take his eyes off of it, even through he knew he should be watching Gangrel's shoulders and arms to see where the next strike would land. It almost cost him his sword arm, and Chrom staggered back as a rent opened along his elbow. He closed his eyes against the ache, and he swore someone had just shoved a fist full of electricity into his veins.

"A little toy I took back out of the treasury. And just for you, prince. Do you like the bite of it?" Gangrel grinned down the length of the blade at him, and lunged again. Chrom brought the Falchion up and let a little more power slip out of his brand. The wound closed, and he could feel a slight weight take its place. He knew there were scales growing over the wound, staunching the pain and the bleeding both.

Gangrel favored him with a sneer.

"You are no man! Stop acting like a high deliverer, you disgusting wretch. You make me sick, sick, SICK!" Gangrel lashed at him with each word, driving Chrom back. Chrom brought Falchion around, the metal singing with each strike. He grit his teeth in a snarl, digging his feet into the ground to hold Gangrel away from where Robin lay. And tried to gain a strike of his own. Gangrel simply laughed at his efforts.

"Are you going to kill me now, like THIS? For what, the sake of your dear sister?"

"For... for peace." Chrom rasped out, blocking a sword strike that could have taken his head. "Our countries will never know it as long as you're alive."

"Peace? Peace!? HAH! You don't know the first thing about peace. You despise me, you want to cut me down. I can FEEL how much rage is trying to boil its way out of your skin! You don't know the first thing about peace!"

"...I know it can't exist as long as men like you live. And I'll put a stop to you however I can." The next strike drove Chrom's feet back by an inch. His heel almost touched the edge of Robin's sleeve.

"With what?" Gangrel stood just out of reach, with a wide, predatory grin. "Your soldiers? Are they going to flee again when you finally catch fire and change?"

Ice pushed through him at that. Chrom tried not to let it show.

"I KNOW they won't, which is more than I can say for your own soldiers. They know who the real monster is." Gangrel's sneer slipped for a moment, and he closed with Chrom again.

"...Pretty words. I'll have to keep your tongue after I separate your head from your body." Gangrel spat and cut, timing his strikes to each snapped out word.

"You- are not- HUMAN. And I'll be glad to expose you for exactly the thing you are!" Gangrel hammered each of the words in, and gave one last stab that Chrom barely turned from his chest. Something was sparking in him, burning at the tips of his fingers and making it harder to hold Falchion.

Why was his blood howling so much? Chrom still felt the Emblem on his arm, and he couldn't have let too much energy out in such a short fight. He couldn't have been that wounded-

Gangrel drew up something in his free hand. Chrom stared for a moment, wondering what the Mad King thought he could do with a stone.

A stone that glimmered with a strange, entrancing light. It was like a fire blazed inside it... and was making something in HIM spark in response.

"Pretty little thing, isn't it? You know, we have a tradition in Plegia of killing any dragon we find, and raiding their grave sites... the fresh bones might have told you that story. And so many of them carry little tokens like these." The stone gave a malevolent glow, and something in his chest spasmed as though a blade had been driven through it. His thoughts began to melt as he stared upon the gem with a horrible, sick feeling.

"Dragon stone... I used to dispense them as signs of favor. But after your little display in my courtyard, I realized I had a better use for what I had left. I had every mage I could grab melt them down into this... and I see now I had the right idea."

His knees turned to water, and Chrom collapsed onto them. His body wracked with pain, and he felt the scales rush over his arm like a tide. They sprouted along his shoulders as well, and his back was ready to rip itself to shreds. Behind him Robin sobbed for breath, a growl bleeding into her voice. Chrom knew his own breaths were a match.

"Stop fighting it, wretch. I know you, I've seen your nature... so give up and die as you really are!"

Chrom heard, more than saw, the sword stabbing down at his head in a hum of electricity. He pushed up, trying to get his sword up in time and knowing he'd be too slow-

His body remembered the Midmire, even if his mind was tripping up. The sword scraped, and Chrom looked up to see the blade was locked against the scales covering his arm. Gangrel gave an enraged shriek and tore the blade aside, wrenching Chrom's arm out of the way. That gave him just enough time to get Falchion upright, scoring a wound in the king's side.

Gangrel's answer was to let the stone blaze up brighter, holding it above his head so Chrom had a full look at it. The stone was like the sun, drawing in his focus and blinding him to all else. Distantly he knew the sword would strike him if he didn't move... but with the shudder his body gave, he couldn't budge.

-o-o-o-

Her body felt like a horse had crashed into it. All of her ached, and electricity still sparked through her nerves, leaving them burnt and shivering. Now Robin knew what being on the other end of a thunder spell was like.

She still held the charge in her body; she should have let the spell go, but her mind had closed around it by reflex. The lightning bit at Robin, still crackling and still recognizing her as a foe. Just like she'd caught the fire spell so long ago and turned it back on the assassin, this spell fought her too.

 _'No time to cast a spell from scratch-'_ she knew haste was important, somehow... and in a moment she also knew _why_. Robin found her knees and lifted her head to see Chrom's white cloak. It almost filled her world, before the wind tugged it aside and showed him trying to dodge Gangrel's sword swipes. Something was slowing him down, though-

...That was when she saw the stone Gangrel held. So much like Nowi's, but with a malevolent, somehow stronger glow. The shield couldn't stand up against the energy radiating out from the stone, and dread clawed at her stomach. Even with Chrom between them and blocking some of the light her body shuddered. Shuddered, pulsed and tried to twist into a new shape in response to the light. Robin bit down on her lip, trying to focus on the leftover thunder in her.

It worked for a heartbeat, before her sight started to blur again. Scales prickled and grew along her cheeks, and her nails pierced into her palms, suddenly gone painfully sharp.

 _'Focus. You have to help Chrom. You have to-'_ He'd fallen to one knee, and wasn't getting up. Gangrel drew his sword back to ram it through Chrom's throat. The Mad King's eye slid over Chrom's shoulder and found hers, with a gloating spark. Saying 'and next I'll deal with you.'

And she couldn't focus her spells enough to stop him.

"LOOK OUT!" Sumia's voice came from overhead, and something hissed through the air in a coppery blaze. The javelin only bit Gangrel in the shoulder, but it drew his focus for just an instant. The stone shifted away by a fingers breadth, enough so the fire wasn't striking Robin in the eyes.

She raised her head to see a blur of white hovering overhead. And grasping something sharp, ready to throw more if she had to.

"Interfering..." Gangrel raised the spell blade and aimed a bolt at Sumia. Again, lightning snapped at the air, bringing tears to Robin's eyes. It latched onto the metal of the javelin, sparking and tearing it free from Sumia's hands. The pegasus rider gave a pained noise, and her mount wheeled down into a hasty landing, Sumia hunched in the saddle. The troops nearby tried to close in on her, and Gangrel readied another bolt-

Only for Frederick to ride in as a blue haze and clear a swath with one swipe. The knight raised his spear and let the lightning run down him, as he grimaced and strained against it. But Frederick held steady, shielding Sumia from further attacks.

"Clinging together won't save any of you. I'll see your prince burn you, every single damn one of you!" Gangrel howled his rage at them, and turned back to Chrom. The prince still couldn't lift his head, fighting against the force of the stone.

Gangrel readied his sword to pin Chrom through the shoulder and draw his eyes back to the stone.

 _'I won't-'_

Robin tried to stand, and join Chrom where he fought just in front of her. In response the world swirled around her in a crazed pulse. Robin squinted, trying to get her eyes to work right while THEY tried to change shape-

 _'I won't let that happen. Not to_ **him**. _'_

Two thin lines blazed along her cheeks, razor sharp for just an instant before parting. Her vision jolted, going strangely wide before snapping into sharp focus. Everything was picked out in almost painful detail; the trim on Chrom's cape, the rivets in armor, the detail of Gangrel's sword.

She could pinpoint the stone, and just how she'd need to raise her hand to it. The electricity crackled through her again... but this time not against her. It had suddenly shifted the same time her vision had, and was perfectly, meekly obedient to her. And whatever was stirring inside of her.

Robin lifted her hand up, twitched her fingers, and the spell arced from the points growing out from the tips. The spell charged and shot past Chrom, slow for just a heartbeat as Robin charted the course.

 _'No. Too easy of a solution. Not what is_ _ **deserved**_ _.'_

The thought snared into her brain; both in her voice and something else. In answer her hand snapped into a fist, and the bolt widened into a near blade of thunder. Gangrel turned at the snap and sizzle of the spell.

But too slowly. He brought his blade up, still like he was moving through syrup.

It didn't matter what he did. It wasn't his heart she was aiming for in the first place. He hadn't EARNED that privilege of a fast death. Robin felt her lips lift up to show her teeth as realization dawned on Gangrel's face... and the lightening sliced clean into his wrist.

A moment later the stone fell to the ground, thudding next to Robin's feet. The light in it flickered out with barely a fight. Gangrel's fingers were still clasped around the stone, his hand bleeding out at the edges from where it had been ripped from his arm.

She let her teeth all show in a wide grin, once the screaming started. The fighting stilled around them, the troops hearing the king's anguished howls.

And yet. The Mad King somehow managed to try and bring his sword down on Chrom in a last, defiant strike-

"CHROM!" The thought and word snapped through her, and the world went blurred again. The pain in her face vanished, and the sore openings along her cheeks began to flicker out and close up. Chrom lifted his head at her voice, bringing his sword up as well.

His name forced him back to his feet. Chrom stood in one clean, fast motion, skewering Gangrel straight through his heart.

"...Fool." Gangrel hissed out as he fell. "You still die alone. Every... man... dies... alone."

"I'm not dead... or alone. I'm not as you are." Chrom wrenched the blade free. And like that, the fight went out of the remaining troops. When his body slammed lifelessly into the ground, a rain of weapons falling from hands followed.

"Chrom? Milord, are you...?" Frederick stood over him. Chrom had collapsed half to his knees and knelt against Falchion. But the prince lifted his head, and Robin saw the scales melting back into his flesh. He stared down at his hands, and relief crossed his features.

He was still human.

"S-spare all who surrender..." Chrom whispered out. "Send messengers out that the king has fallen. I-"

His words cut out when he picked out where she'd fallen, just a out of hand's reach from him. Chrom easily bridged the gap, half collapsing, half kneeling down next to her.

"Robin?" He stared at her, blinking as though he'd seen something strange on her face. She felt a left over sting of pain... but nothing else. The world looked normal again through her eyes.

"I-I'm alright. Gods, you gave me a scare for a moment." Robin's voice came out rough. His hands cupped her face, and Chrom sighed out in relief as he looked over her again. Whatever he thought he'd seen, it must have been gone now.

"It's mutual... thank the gods you're okay. Can you stand?"

Robin nodded against his hands, and he trailed them down to one arm to help her up. She braced her free hand against the ground, and felt her fingers close over something. She shifted the object around, using it to help brace her and get her up. Only once Robin found her feet did she finally look down at it.

The Levin sword fit smoothly in her hand, almost like it had been built for her. Robin darted her gaze between it and Chrom, but the prince didn't object to her holding it.

 _'It's not as though the mad king will have any more use for it.'_

"I... we won, didn't we?" Robin managed, raising her hand up to her face. But her fingers touched only skin. No trace of scales, or whatever else had opened along her face.

"At the last moment... but yes. We've seized a victory for Ylisse." Frederick answered her. "You both acted just in time... though we may downplay the Mad King's last moments."

The knight glanced down at the dragon stone, and then motioned with his fingers. Anna and Lissa stepped into Robin's vision, both of them throwing a cloth over the stone to kill any lingering glow.

Though they almost didn't need to; Chrom was standing easily enough, his form fully back to being human. His hand stayed tight on hers, to give her something to balance against, and ground herself.

"It looks like there's word from the other lines. We should see to it." Chrom told her, and started to move towards the other Shepherds, leading her along.

His hand never left hers, the entire time.


	26. Halves of a Whole

**Chapter 26: Halves of a Whole**

Nightfall. It blanketed the Plegian countryside, draping starry glimmers and soft rays of silver moonlight over the sparse grasslands. It was one of the handful of places that could be considered fertile in the nation. In a way, it was appropriate that the war had ended on these far reaches. It worked as a sign that everyone had a chance to rebuild their lives into something new and thriving.

And that they were safe to rebuild them.

' _Safe.'_ The thought swirled around in her head… and for just a moment, Marth found herself wishing for her mask. It would have been easier to hide the way her eyes were shining with relieved and unshed tears.

Instead, she had to be content with sticking to all the dark places provided by the night.

' _Though I AM getting used to moving through night cover.'_ She wasn't sure if that was something to take pride in, or be vexed over.

Marth decided to put off thinking about it, and instead worked her way up the walls of a crumpled keep. She scaled a broken section, scrambling up hand and footholds in the cracked surface. Overhead she saw the edge of the wall forming a black, broken and ragged outline against a star strewn sky.

Beyond the outline of stone was an orange glow; a bonfire most likely. Marth strained her ears, slowing the scuffle of her climb to pick out raised voices. Some of them sounded a little more slurred and intoxicated than others… but all of them were well away from where she was climbing. She scrambled the last few feet up and vaulted over the edge of the wall, softly touching down on her hands and knees at the other side.

Marth held her breath for one second, waiting to see if she'd been noticed. But there was no alarm, no commotion. She was free to go about her business.

' _And sneak around like a spy or the like. You're lucky that you didn't find any saboteurs during your approach to this fort.'_ But then again, Robin had helped pick this out as the place to talk terms of surrender and celebrate; and for all that the fort was crumbled down, it was also in a good, defensible location. If she hadn't already had to dodge patrols back in Ylisse, sneaking in would have held a greater challenge.

As it was, she kept a low profile and darted along the ramparts, eyes fixed to the gathering below.

' _Though… you don't have any reason to be here now. There's no chance of assassins, nothing to warn anyone about, so-'_ So why was she here? What justification could she give herself? Her thoughts dug at her with that question… but in another moment they hushed entirely when Marth picked out a figure at the fringes of the firelight. The flames set faint, orange highlights in his blue hair… but he pointedly kept his eyes away from the fire. And the sky, both.

Marth edged closer to the edge of the rampart, stretching her hearing to try and pick out what, if anything, he might say.

-o-o-o-

"….Definitely thinking about leaving now." Chrom said, though more to himself than anyone else. He felt like he was caught in a tug-of-war between the sky above, and the fire at his back. Both had a way of digging into his concentration, and made his skin itch. The encounter with Gangrel's dragon stone had shaken him up more than Chrom wanted to admit. Out loud, at least.

While Basilio and Flavia had made it clear they didn't expect him to celebrate, that didn't extend to their troops. And after the third time Chrom had to decline a toast, he decided it was time to leave. He'd let those who wanted to celebrate free to do so. But just then, the victory didn't bring him any joy.

' _It was a very close thing.'_ Chrom fought to keep a scowl off of his face, trying put some distance between himself and the festivities of the courtyard.

Olivia was dancing before the bonfire again. Stahl and Cordelia had both elected to accompany her, through voice or harp respectively. The three together made for a powerful performance… but still not something Chrom wanted to pause for. There was still a restlessness to him that the fire only seemed to stoke. And when the soldiers called out a request for Virion and Maribelle's song, Chrom really didn't want to linger.

To his surprise he managed to reach the periphery of the celebration quick enough. He glanced left and right, wondering over how he'd managed to distance himself so easily.

"I took the liberty of directing a few celebrants towards Vaike, Gregor, and Sully." Frederick's voice moved in, over his shoulder. "They should be more than capable of distracting people with those odd contests of theirs. I think they've even managed to rope Lon'qu into a round of drinking, somehow."

Frederick's tone carried a slight note of humor, as did the smile on his face.

"So that's one worry off my chest. Thank you." Chrom murmured. But despite his words, he knew that he didn't sound that joyful. The hush in his voice proved that. "Though... I don't think I ever properly apologized to you, over all the grief and trouble I've caused for you. I know there were more than a few growing pains, with what I went through."

"I can accept that... and that you seem to be on a more even balance." Frederick answered, and nodded to Chrom's shoulder. The cheer in his voice wavered for a moment. "I... worried over you for a long time. I'll admit to that. First it was if you could handle yourself in the battle field. Then my worry shifted when you fought almost TOO well, and the ways you-"

"Snapped at everyone?"

"I was going to say had flares in your temper, but I suppose that's also an accurate way of putting it." Frederick chuckled a little at that. "But now... I feel as though I can stop fretting over you by... perhaps a margin. The last battle was proof of that. You've been stable, and fought-"

"...Mostly as a human." Chrom whispered. "I stayed that way because of you. All of you. I'm lucky to have you as comrades, and... friends." Frederick's eyebrows arched up over the last word.

"Friends...? It is..." Frederick regarded Chrom from the corners of his eyes, half crinkled up in a bigger smile. "A mark of pride to hear that. Though… perhaps if I might ask for one more boon, tonight? I would appreciate if myself and Sumia might be spared from garrison, for a few hours."

Chrom barely choked back a laugh. "A few hours!? Frederick, take the entire night off. You deserve a respite, you and… and-" Chrom faltered when the other half of the request caught up to him. He couldn't mask the way his eyes widened, or the dumb grin spreading across his face as he watched Frederick. "Ah. Then I'd happily grant both of you the evening, and wish you luck."

He didn't think he was imagining a faint color dusting Frederick's face, as the knight dipped his head in a grateful nod.

"My thanks… and I suppose I should wish you fortune as well, for whatever this evening holds. By chance, you might wish to investigate the far walls. You may find someone of importance there." Frederick replied.

Chrom paused, wondering... but for only a split second. Then he was bolting up the fort steps, cape fluttering and snapping behind him.

-o-o-o-

' _Move out of the way, moveoutoftheway!'_ Marth screamed to herself. She just barely managed to dodge to the side and crouch behind a half collapsed section of parapet, using the rubble to shield herself from any eyes.

…Not that Chrom was looking for her. He'd frozen from where he'd climbed the steps, eyes locked on something near her hiding place.

"Robin-?" Marth lifted her eyes up, just enough to realize that a robed figure was standing close to her hiding place. Close enough that Marth could have reached out and touched the eye pattern on her sleeves, if she wanted to.

It had been pure, complete luck that Robin hadn't spotted her… but then, she seemed distracted as well. At least if the flinch she gave Chrom was any indication. It pulled her sight away from where it had been gazing at the stars.

"Ah- Chrom? What are you doing up here?" Her voice had a breathless quality.

"Looking for you." His own voice was quiet… and with a lurch, Marth had the feeling she'd intruded on a quiet moment. It was a lucky thing she was hidden and the night still had a bit of chill, as her face was trying to go bright red.

"Well… it looks like you're surviving the celebrations, at least." Robin traded the shock in her voice for a smile, and a small chuckle. "Sorry if I was a little hard to find. I… admit, I wasn't all that eager to stay around the bonfire tonight. The battle with Gangrel might be over and done with, but I can still feel…"

"…Echoes?" Chrom guessed. "There is something about fire lately, that makes it harder to be around large amounts of it. Things turn hazy if I stare at the flames for too long… and I worry about what that might mean for me."

Chrom's steps faltered, and he stared down his arms. He'd shed his armor, and there was no sign of the scales Marth had heard about. But for all of that, he didn't look very confident in himself. Her own legs twitched, wanting to push herself up and tell Chrom that his worries were unfounded.

Down below the singing reached a crescendo, and Chrom winced from it. Robin turned her head from the stars completely, facing him instead.

"Chrom? Give me your hand. Please." Chrom followed her instructions, but Marth could see how his hand halted, unsure of the motions. Robin was more certain, and placed her fingers and thumb over his wrist, slowly turning it so his palm was up.

"You remember killing Gangrel? You didn't tear a hole through him with claws. You didn't burn him alive. You did it as a human... or near enough. That's what will matter the most, to many people. You proved that you had control over what's in you... better than me, really." Robin's voice hitched a little, and Chrom yanked his eyes up from where their hands touched.

"I couldn't have won it without you, Robin." But for all that, she wouldn't meet his eyes. So Chrom tightened his fingers around her, trying to anchor her. "And… I wasn't all that gentle or prone to mercy, either. If you hadn't torn into him, I likely would have. And the fact is you gave me the opening I needed."

"Maybe… but I'm not in a hurry to experience it again. And at least now I'm calmed. I don't think I'll be having a retread of… whatever that was, anytime soon." The singing was fading away, the lyrics dying down; Marth hadn't heard much of it, more focused on the two in front of her.

"Though you still have your reasons to be alone, I'm guessing." Chrom continued.

"Initially. The fire was part of it, but also… Because I'm not sure where we go from here." Robin murmured, tilting her head out to the desert. "For the first time in a while, I actually don't have a solid plan. Though I know I'll stay with the Shepherds. Odds are the Risen won't go away any time soon, either."

' _Trust me, I have my own plans with seeing to them.'_ Marth promised herself. Those, she had no problems over fighting. Particularly if it gave the Shepherds more time to rest. And perhaps… she also would try and seek out the dark clad woman from Plegia's capital. She'd somehow vanished with the closing of the war, with no trace of her in the capital, the borders, or anywhere else. It was like she'd evaporated into the desert.

Robin was still glancing sidelong at the desert. Probably getting lost in thoughts, only to shake her head back and forth.

"But for all that… I'm still not certain what comes next, since I've been so focused on finishing this war. And getting a handle on what happened to us." And Marth wished she could tell them something of what came next. But-

But there was a silencing stretching out between them. Robin shook her head back and forth to try and break her way out of her own thoughts, and glanced down at their hands. Down below, a new song was springing up in the crowd.

This one, Marth knew the words to. She'd heard it dozens of times after all, and sang it even more than that; a song to help her through the hard times, and give her hope-

"What-?" Chrom's voice carried a surprised note. And with a jolt, Marth realized she'd been humming along to the tune. And not nearly quiet enough to avoid being heard. Chrom and Robin had both let go of the other's hands, and cautiously turned to the source of the noise.

She inwardly cursed herself, and forced herself to stand up.

-o-o-o-

' _Marth.'_ There was no mistaking the long hair, the blue and red clothing, or the way she cautiously uncurled from her crouch; still every inch a fighter, even in calm moments. She straightened up from the shadows and turned to face them, eyes downcast and looking the world like a child caught raiding the pantry.

Her voice had caused him to drop Robin's hands and go for his own sword, before halting from the motion when he recognized the voice. Robin had done much of the same with her spell tome, only now prying her fingers away from the cover.

"...I swear, you have the most amazing knack for unexpected appearances. Where did you pick that up?" Robin asked, before shaking her head. "...Scratch that. A better question would be, what brings you here?"

Chrom swore that Marth tensed for a moment at the first question, appearing almost hesitant to answer it... only to relax at the second, and favor them with a quick, and curiously bright smile when she lifted her head.

"Nothing that involves being a harbinger of ill omens this time, I promise. I..." The smile didn't flicker, but did vanish from sight when Marth dipped her head and rubbed at her hair, stringing the strands through her fingers. "I only wanted to see that you were safe. Both of you. And once the song began I found myself humming-"

"And that was why we found you." Chrom supplied.

"Aye. Though I'd heard that you didn't like this song..." And there was a note of... Chrom swore that he heard regret in Marth's voice. That she resented ever causing him pain. "Yet, it seems you're more at peace with it, than before."

"I... No, I don't mind hearing that song now." The words left Chrom with a disbelieving chuckle. Almost delirious in relief... but it was true. No emotions smoldering up to the surface from that melody. No restlessness, no need to escape... because there was nothing to run from. And there was no desire to leave where he'd found himself. Marth herself seemed to breath a little easier, hearing that.

"I'm glad of that, then. And you're both safe, which is what I wanted to learn. You can bring Ylisse and her people towards prosperity now." Marth sounded so certain of those facts, too. Enough to raise Chrom's head more and straighten his shoulders with extra confidence, even as she lowered hers.

"Though... to be frank, I shouldn't be here. It isn't my place." Thick sorrow seeped into her voice at that. Chrom almost wanted to reach out to her-

But he didn't get the chance, when Robin closed the gap first and put a hand in front of Marth.

"That strikes me as a ridiculous thing to say. If someone like me can find a place to belong here, why can't you?"

"I-" Marth's voice choked at that, before she shook her head and shrunk away. "I... appreciate that. But I should also be on my way. But... please believe me, that I'm happy to see you both are safe and happy. That's enough for me, right now."

She'd stepped back into the shadows as she spoke, and faded like a whisper over the wall before they could say or do anything to stop her.

"Still an enigma." Robin shook her head as she spoke. But her voice had lost some of the worry in it, sounding a little more calm.

"P-perhaps." By contrast, Chrom found himself with a strange mixture of anxiety and joy coiling in his gut; like he was standing at the precipice of somewhere high up and preparing to leap off. It made his voice shaky, and pushed a quiver into his fingers. But still, he reached out to touch her hand, and used that to steady himself.

-o-o-o-

Robin paused over the press at her wrist. Chrom's hand had found hers again, and he seemed ready to pick up from where they'd left off, after Marth's unexpected arrival.

' _I still wish-'_ that she'd gotten answers from Marth. Or convinced her to stay… but the fact was, Chrom was still there, and something about the way his fingers shivered said Robin needed to give him her full attention.

"You said before you didn't know what to focus on yet. But… I'd hoped I could give you something to think on. I... may not be overjoyed at this victory; it didn't bring Emm back, it's bled our nations. But there is something I can be pleased about." Chrom's voice was soft, little more than a breath against her ears and face. He was leaning in close now, a hands breadth from her. "I-I'm glad this is over. That I don't have to worry about war, or whatever is wrong with my brand, or... Or how any feelings I have might affect things. I have a chance to focus on you now."

Robin froze for a second over that. In answer Chrom ran his thumb and index finger down hers, trailing a soft touch. The contact prompted Robin to met the gesture with her own fingers, curling them around his and pressing their hands together so they were palm to palm.

"Your hand has recovered admirably," Chrom murmured. "I'm glad of it. You've proven yourself to be a fast healer." Somehow, she got the impression he was talking about more than just the old burn scars. "I only hope I can recover so well. Or measure up to you."

"I've had a few seasons to put that injury behind me." Robin pointed out. Though strangely, it didn't feel like all that much time had passed; she could almost imagine herself back in the clearing on that first night, nursing a hurt nose and picking up her first major scars.

 _'A lot more_ _has changed than just that, too.'_ The warmth where their hands met reminded her of that. The grip in Robin's fingers was more strong and sure now, too. She'd grown more used to handling her sword, and the calluses on her fingers attested to that. The burns and cuts Chrom worried over were long since shed... leaving just the one scar.

 _'Though... I don't know if I would've done anything differently, back then. It meant I was able to stay with him, and help him through everything.'_

Chrom could have been thinking back as well, with how distant his eyes were. But then Robin flexed her fingers, and brought him back to the present.

"You're right. And so _much_ has happened. I never thought I'd be carrying a bigger burden than Falchion. I never thought I'd be inheriting Emmeryn's power… or shouldering a strange power of my own. But despite everything… I'm glad I've had you at my side through all of it. Bad and good." Chrom ran his thumb along the back of her hand, tracing the line of her scar. "I think that might make me selfish-"

"It doesn't!" Robin blurted out. "Or if it does… then I'm selfish as well. I was no one. Nothing. But you… all of you changed that. The Shepherds gave me something, and… especially you. You gave me something no one else has."

With her free hand, she pointed to her heart and felt a shy smile tug at the corners of her lips. Chrom had something similar on his own face.

"I'd like to give you something more, if I can. If you accept." His hands shook again where they clasped, sending tremors racing along her own arms. He took a deep breath, seeming to steel his courage for something.

"It's just… you've saved my life plenty of times. I was wondering if I could offer it to you. M-my life. With me. Together." That red on his cheeks went brighter with each word.

For her part, Robin had to remind herself to breathe.

"Gods, I know I'm a fool, but... if you'd have me be closer I would-" he bent down to one knee, his fingers still wrapped around hers and drawing her hand closer.

This must have been one of those etiquette lessons he talked so much about, Robin thought in the back of her head, around a curiously light feeling settling into it.

He drew his hand away then, taking something from his belt. She recognized the pouch that held the silver gemstone, as he tipped it into his hand and something else fell out. A golden band glimmered in his palm, and he held it up as he looked up at her. Thanks to the distant firelight Robin made out a crest on the ring, very much like Chrom's brand. "I'd be with you. As my other half."

Robin's answer was to kneel down in front of him and join him on the floor, wrapping both her hands around his. The metal of the ring had already warmed to his heat.

"Chrom, we're equals. You don't need to go down on one knee, or vice versa. I want you to know that," he gave a stiff nod, still nervous over what her answer would be. "We're the same in power, our respect for the other... and our feelings, too."

She squeezed at his hand, watching the last of his nervousness melt away.

"You're the one I want to be with, love. Because I love you too-" She whispered out... and nearly squeaked when Chrom threw his arms around her. With most of her weight on one knee, her balance gave out. She found herself flat on her back with him on top of her... and laughing like a fool. He squeezed her tight against his chest, like he never wanted to separate again.

"Even if you're close to squishing me right now." There was a breathy quality working its way into her voice. A quiver settling between her lungs, and made her shoulders and arms all shiver. But it didn't stop Robin from hugging back just as tightly. "But I'd be lying if this didn't feel... well, _right_ somehow."

Granted, her words were opting to fail her just then. The warmth in her chest made her tongue go clumsy, and left her with what had to be a ridiculous smile on her face.

Though just then, she couldn't bring herself to care about appearances. Not with the way Chrom moved his hand to her cheek. The knuckle and first joint of his fingers brushed against her skin, tracing the line of her face. Chrom's other hand braced itself near her shoulder, lifting himself up and giving her room to breath. And room to look at Chrom, taking in his wide eyed grin.

Watching him also gave her a handful of words, simple as they were.

"So… yes. My answer to you is yes." Her voice rose in pitch, squeaking when she laughed out "and always yes!"

In answer, Chrom's hand left her cheek and he sat back up. His fingers uncoiled all the way to show the ring resting in his palm. Robin's hand lifted as well, and Chrom guided her up with a gentle pull on her wrist to sit next to him. The touch of his fingers was light, almost ticklish on either side of her ring finger. Chrom slipped the metal band over it, in a slow and almost reverent gesture. The warmth of the ring wrapped snugly around her skin, and the small crest of the Exalt caught the distant firelight.

"I... I only wish I had something to give you too," Robin murmured as she looked over the ring on her finger.

"You've given me an amazing future," Chrom answered, fingers still tracing around the golden band. "A little maudlin, I know... but hopefully you understand?"

When Chrom's hand finished sliding the ring down, Robin turned her hand so she could catch his thumb and squeeze it tight.

"I do." When had her voice gone that whispery and high pitched? Probably around the same time Chrom's had dropped to a low murmur against her ears. And yet still they had the easiest time hearing the other, their senses both strangely sharp.

 _'Another effect of the marks and scars?'_ That, or it was just what happened when people were in love and pouring their hearts out to the other, once more.

"I know there's still so much out there, waiting for us." Chrom murmured. "We need to rebuild, to lead people to something better, but-"

"But that can wait. For once, that can wait." Robin answered, releasing his hands so she could trail her fingers through his hair and then down his neck. "We just proved we're human. So for a change... maybe we can allow ourselves to act just as that. Just... us."

Chrom nodded, leaning in from the gesture. Their noses bumped together, and Robin's lips parted from the warmth against her face. Her eyes wanted to slide shut, but something about this felt… important. Something she needed to see.

At least until she and Chrom leaned in to touch their lips together. Then her eyes closed on their own, leaving her to sink into the sensation. A soft press of skin together, absurdly gentle with how sensitive her lips felt just then. Chrom sighed into the kiss, showing he felt the same warmth… and also felt the way Robin gripped at his back, tying them together. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, and a contented hum built in the back of his throat. Now it seemed, he had something to be happy over, and match his mood to the rest of the celebration.

All through the rest of the night, they never left the contact or company of the other. Finding strength in the other for whatever waited, beyond the long battle.

And neither of them felt much shame over that; since they were, after all, only human. Only human… and a little bit more, now resting quietly beneath the surface.

 **To Be Continued.**

* * *

 **((And with that, Part I of Blood of Dragons comes to an end! Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, but as a capstone I wanted to be sure it would be up to standard.**

 **There is more content for this story on the way, with another section at an almost-but-not-quite-finished-rough-draft-phase. I plan to take the rest of the year off in order to rest, revise the rough draft, and work on some other stories; some fanfic, some original. You can expect to see the next chapter on April 8th of 2017 as a hard deadline, if not sooner. Take it easy until then, and I'll see you all for the next update!))**


	27. Interlude

**Chapter 27: Interlude**

* * *

 **((Author's Note: And now, the story resumes. Updates may be sporadic, as I continue to work on the rough draft of Part II. But it's high time to start posting chapters again, as I slowly but steadily bring them up to standard. Hope you enjoy reading!))**

* * *

He wore the Emblem on his arm. The shield glimmered in a hazy sunset that washed Ylisse pink and and orange in the fading light. The shield itself glowed like fire, and seemed to take any left over heat out of Chrom's own blood. He held his head up as a man, not a monster… and it seemed to convince the citizens of Ylisse, those who waited for his return. The common citizen and noble both, they looked at him without flinching. He could live with the murmurs of conversation and rumors that swirled around him, the voices all like restless words.

There were a few ragged cheers filling the capital; the people still exhausted from the war to manage much more. Even if Ylisse had emerged victorious, it had still been a trying time for all involved.

Chrom found himself sleepwalking through most of the welcoming ceremonies, which lasted well into the night. Standing at attention as speeches were made proclaiming Ylisse's victory, that better, more peaceful days lay ahead. He may have imparted a few words of his own, long since memorized to the point of rote and numbness.

Assurances that he would try to match his sister, instead of his father. That was the only promise that really mattered to him, through every speech and honor awarded to Ylisse and Ferox for their part in the war. Roxanne was given accolades as well, and a carefully tailored speech by Frederick, assuring Ylisse that their new refugees were steadfast allies of Ylisse.

Through it all, the only solid presences he had were the weight on his arm, and a gentle brush from one person's hand and fingers at his side.

Robin never left him, all through the return journey. And even now, as the final formalities ran down, she stood next to him. The same exhaustion had to be clinging to her, with how heavy-lidded her eyes were. A stray breeze sent ripples through her tactician's cloak, now cleaned from all the dust and grime the campaign had sunk into it. His own cape had been swapped out to something more pure white, so he didn't show up to the capital looking the same way he felt.

They were a matched pair in that, two people in fresh clothing, but with the same bruises and tatters directly underneath.

At least no one ventured to set them apart, or minded when they both excused themselves at the end of the ceremonies. Their steps were synchronized all the way up to a pair of rooms.

And even with the exhaustion blanketed over him, and the Emblem turning into a weight on his arm, Chrom found himself wishing he had just a shred more of energy left to speak with her, to hold a longer conversation, so he wouldn't have to say 'good night' just then.

Not that he was sure he could manage even a handful of words.

But Robin solved it for him, by leaning in and whispering "Good night, Chrom" in his ear. Her lips pressed against his cheek for one breath, before her hands gently turned him around and nudged him towards his own bed.

-o-o-o-

He set the Emblem above the throne. It stayed there all through the ceremonies, a guiding light to keep him anchored. The declaration of the war's end and welcoming ceremonies were only the first steps on establishing peace; there were still many, many more to take after that.

He felt grief and rage both stirring and pushing against his skin, during the preparations for him to take on a new role. One that he STILL didn't feel fit for. When the last rites were made for his sister, it felt like both emotions would burst out of him in a second blaze of fire.

What stopped him short was a soft, silvery light from Argent, just visible from the balcony he stood on. The curtains framing the entrance swayed in the evening breeze, almost like Emm's long, golden hair. It called up the memory of Emmeryn pressing the gemstone to his hands. Pleading for him to take it, and for it to give him strength. Those phantom sensations and memories turned solid when a soft touch rested on his arm.

Robin's fingers traced a gentle line down his arm and stilled the fire under his skin. Robin had only half an eye on the proceedings in the courtyard below. An arrangement of white robed figures radiated around the fire in the center. Libra and a collection of priests offered their prayers to Naga, and called for Emmeryn's spirit to rise with the smoke and cinders from a funeral pyre.

In Chrom's own ears, the prayers were becoming muffled.

' _She's already with Naga,'_ he told himself. Reunited with their Mother, and-

Robin must have felt the way he stiffened underneath her hand, from the worried "Chrom…?" she gave. That pressed into his ears more than any prayers from below.

"Just… remembering. The last time this happened." His eyes narrowed, and the scenery blurred from something stinging his eyes. Whether that thing was smoke or tears, it was hard to say. Through the teary haze, the scenery shifted around. He picked out a different figure in the flames, one more stark and hard.

"…Back then, it was my father. Duran." A king who'd never requested his own cremation, after his refusal to burn the dead. They'd more than likely ran contrary to Duran's last wishes, by keeping with ceremony. But no matter what madness had taken his father, he'd still been a king and had to be treated as such.

The cinders of the funeral pyre mingled with the crimson streaks of the sunset overhead.

"I… I wonder if he'll be reunited with Emm. I hope- that if she is reunited with Father, there will be some sort of kindness in him, for her and what she's done. But… I can't imagine it." He hated to admit it, but Robin at least didn't flinch from him, at that confession. Instead she gave a sympathetic noise in the back of her throat, coaxing him to speak further. "And I don't remember much of my own mother, compared to him."

He hated THAT even more; that the intensity of his father eclipsed any memory of a gentler or kinder presence. But then, he'd had Emmeryn to make up for some of the difference.

' _Had.'_ And he yanked his head to look back at the Emblem, through the palace doors. The gentle glow of Argent killed off a metallic taste and red stain growing in his senses. Chrom lifted his eyes from that, once his breathing had evened out and a fraction of calm was back in his thoughts. Instead he scanned for Lissa, and saw her keeping her own vigil, on the other side of the balcony. Just out of earshot of his confessions to Robin, and with all her focus centered on the pyre.

The red light made her eyes glimmer with unshed tears. He could pick them out, even at this distance… and it made him wonder, if the fire below was somehow calling up something in him, and sharpening his senses.

Robin stalled that thought with a few low words of her own.

"Just focus on getting through this for now. And helping your family get through this; it's the one action to be focused on right now, above all else." She kept her eyes on Lissa as she spoke. For a brief moment, Chrom wondered if Robin needed to be told that she also counted as family now.

Instead he moved his hand to catch hers, fingers squeezing together and warming the metal band on her finger.

The gesture was enough; she understood it, and walked with him once Chrom abandoned his vigil over the flames. He crossed the distance and moved closer to Lissa, laying his other hand on her shoulder. His sister started for just a moment from the contact, stepping up to the edge of the balcony-

Too close, for Chrom's liking. Too familiar to another moment, and he found himself tugging Lissa in closer. Robin lay her other hand on the girl's shoulder, tying Lissa close to them for a moment. Recognition dawned in Lissa's face at that, and she silently rested her head against Chrom's shoulder.

His scar twitched from the contact… but with his eyes off of the fire, that was all it did. Leaving him to focus on being a solid presence for Lissa to rest against, while his own hand clung to Robin. They were three anchors for a moment, each mourning their loss.

Not just grief for an Exalt, but a lost family member as well.

-o-o-o-

Chrom moved the Emblem to his own chambers with very little fanfare, switching it between his bedroom and Robin's every other night. Few, if any, remarked on this change. Most were focused on an upcoming wedding. And focused with such a fervor that it made Chrom want to simply elope with Robin and be done with it.

She gave him a teasing poke to the forehead when he suggested it. "People need ritual and ceremony, to keep their lives stable… otherwise, believe me I'd be ready to agree." She ended with a laugh. It never failed to amaze him how much one tiny smile could light up her face… and how quickly her thoughts could turn dark and steal that same smile away. Robin lifted her hand, the early morning sun catching the gold of the ring.

"Besides, I want to give them as much reason to celebrate as possible, instead of…" Her eyes slid to her mark, and Chrom knew what was running through her head. Doubt, over her own mark, her blank background, and what an unknown factor she was.

He'd heard a few murmurs here and there, of how she was a no one, or questioning her right to marry him. He'd responded by requesting Virion and Maribelle to bring up and emphasize how key this 'no one' had been as a strategist. They'd done so with a relish, making him wonder if they'd planned on doing so on their own.

Chrom shook himself from his memories by taking up Robin's marked hand, lacing his fingers into hers. It seemed to pull her out of her own thoughts, as she leaned against him for a brief heartbeat. Only that, however, before she shrugged everything off and turned back to her own paperwork.

"Logistics wait for no one, whether it's a war campaign or a wedding." She explained to him. And Chrom simply bowed his head and allowed himself to get swept back up in the preparations.

Until the fateful day finally arrived.

The wedding was something he endured, standing perfectly composed all through the speeches. Blinking his eyes so the incense and smoke wouldn't make him tear up or sneeze… or trying not to dwell too much on the gravity of the situation. His skin did give him a distraction, with how much he had to manage; no shifting from impatience, not sagging his shoulders or his head, and certainly not complaining over how much his nose itched.

Having Robin at his side helped. It made the ceremonies bearable, even if he had his eyes mostly on her. The colors from the stained glass played in fascinating patterns over her skin, and shifting the white of her dress into a myriad of tints. A few white ribbons still clung to her hair or the lace hems of her dress, left overs from the procession into the chapel.

The effect made her look a little more like Robin, instead of a glass doll, and he couldn't fight down a smile when he watched her. His hands betrayed him just once, wanting to twitch up and help brush the white clear of her. Instead he pinched his fingers together, and their master of ceremonies didn't appear to mind his one lapse.

In absence of the Hierarch, Libra presided. His own robes had been carefully pressed and arranged, and he went through the motions with precision that could only come from long hours of practice. Considering how much Libra likely had to ready himself for the role, that gave Chrom one more reason to stay composed.

At least until Libra gave him a low nod, and granted him permission to kiss the bride.

-o-o-o-

The Emblem glimmered in the dimmed light, catching the moonlight through the windows of their bedchamber.

Chrom's hands finally were able to run along Robin, picking the ribbons free from her hair, and likewise she mirrored the motions. He hadn't even realized there was trim stuck to his bangs, until she brushed them out of his face with a soft chuckle.

The sound warmed him from head to toe. From the way Robin sighed and leaned against him, she'd been just as drained through the wedding ceremonies as him. She'd just been much better at hiding it. Still, that didn't slow down her own fingers or steal too much strength from her arms. She had enough stamina left to tug and guide him to their now shared bed.

He was more than willing to go along with her. After hours of being apart, having anymore space between them felt unacceptable. It was hard to say who pulled who onto the sheets, and it was a small miracle neither of them landed face first in the pillows. Robin simply hummed into his neck, curling up against him.

"Worth the wait?" He found himself asking, unable to hide the grin tracing across his face. In retaliation, Robin butted her head against his.

"I suppose I'll have to wait and see…" He was pretty certain it was intentional on her part, the way her breath tickled at his skin and made him shiver. "Though I can already say that I feel more at peace than before."

His eyes trailed up to the Emblem, wondering if that was the only factor that left her at ease. But before he could dwell on it for long, Robin traced her thumbs under his chin and jaw to pull his head back to look at her. She kept her eyes fixed on him, and the edges of them creased up in a smile when she leaned in to kiss him.

"Because I'm with you." She murmured against his lips.

Everything was soft, shared breathing and whispered names beyond that.

-o-o-o-

For a split second, the Emblem turned red. The entire world did, but the gleam of the Emblem stood out. Chrom shuddered and forced himself to breath. Doing so caused the colors to fade away, with a heavy tremble in time to his own breath.

Hearing Robin sob threatened to bring it all back in a rush. Instead Chrom clutched at her hand; the purple of her mark stood out against how pale her skin had gone. Pain and stress left her hand tight, fingers digging into his palm.

Chrom's free hand brushed the sweat streaked bangs away from her forehead. His hand shivered with each motion, strain and caution making his fingers tremble. Her ragged breathing threatened to shoot claws from the tips of his fingers, even though there was nothing to attack.

"Easy, Chrom." Lissa's voice cut into his thoughts. "No one's in serious trouble, there's nothing to fight, so… Please try to tone down the glowing eyes?" Chrom blinked at that, and felt something in his own eyes shift. Robin's skin lost a slight, reflected blue sheen, a sign that his control had eroded.

The same was true for Robin, once her eyes cracked open. They were hazed over and unfocused from the labor… and had a slight glow to them, giving off a hint of something red. Through the color, he could just pick out a slit shape to her pupils. A little more red lit up the room, when Robin exhaled. Her breath came out in a ragged sob… and something else, orange and flickering, hissed out between her teeth. The fire rushed out from her lips, illuminating her face and highlighting the sweat beading her forehead.

"I don't think this is-" Normal. Or alright. Or anything he could withstand for much longer. Chrom couldn't decide on which of those things to voice, but Lissa had turned her attention from him. She and a few of the other Shepherds formed a semicircle around the couple, each one doing their own part to aid Robin through the labor. Lissa and Miriel both administered tonics and did their best to guide Robin through the process. Maribelle and Libra had both returned to the capital as well, to help with their own prayers and knowledge of medicine.

And Chrom was left with holding her hand, and feeling useless about his own involvement.

…Yet for all that, Robin kept her eyes fixed on his face, only straying to the Emblem a handful of times. He was the one who somehow kept her anchored.

It could have been minutes or hours; he lost track with how he fought to stay human, and keep Robin's focus. But between one heartbeat and the next, her breath lost its sobbing quality, and her hand went slack in his grip. She sagged against the pillows, eyes drifting shut. And over the softness her breathing had taken, Chrom heard a newborn cry echo through the room.

-o-o-o-

A new pair of blue eyes blinked up at Robin, giving off a soft, golden reflection. The color was a reminder that the Emblem was still fixed above her. The presence reminded Robin that she could collapse back into the bed and rest easily. And trace of scales or talons were long gone.

And she'd thank Naga for that on a daily basis, once she got her stamina back. She could cradle the baby in her arms without worrying about cuts or scratches.

If she had her way, NOTHING would ever harm this child.

"Robin?" She lifted her head, in time for Chrom to press his lips to her forehead. "You're… certain you're well?"

"Quite certain," she assured him. Though he still showed no sign of backing away or relaxing. "I just need to rest, love. I've, well… done my job." In as much as being pregnant and giving birth could be considered a job. Chrom gave a short snort at that, and gave a brief smile. "And nothing ended up getting set on fire. I'd like to consider that a success?"

"And I'd have to agree with you." Chrom finally allowed, dipping his head in a nod and resting their foreheads together. "Though… there is still the issue of a name."

"Good point." Robin sighed out, and blinked her eyes a few times to try and chase the fatigue out of them. At least for a few seconds, to allow herself to concentrate. "We've gone over a few, but… I somehow don't see her as being a 'Morgan.'"

Chrom gave an accepting hum. When she looked at him, there was a distant look in his eyes.

"Do you… remember when I finally confessed to you?" Chrom broke the silence.

"I seem to recall confessing to YOU just as much, but… yes, I do." She smiled for a moment at the memory, though her brain couldn't quite make the connections between that and a name for their child.

"Do you remember the butterflies? Luxine?" Robin nodded, turning the name over and over in her mind. It had made for a significant moment, but she wasn't certain about naming the girl after a butterfly, however pretty it was.

"Luxine… Lux… light," she played with the name and combinations for a moment. "Lucine…"

"…Lucina?" Chrom added onto that, jolting his head up for a moment. Robin mirrored his motion, their cheeks bumping together for a moment.

"I… I think… I could agree with that." She whispered out, and Chrom settled back down with an agreeing hum. He wrapped an arm back around her, which Robin readily sank into. Her brain seemed convinced that she'd done her job well enough, as it sank towards slumber. But not before she repeated the name one last time, to settle it into place.

"Lucina."


	28. PART II Ablaze: Scattered

**PART II: Ablaze**

 **Chapter 28: Scattered**

Robin blinked her eyes open to morning sunlight, and a half scarred brand in front of her face. It required a few more blinks for her eyes to remain open, and in that time she managed to raise her head enough to glance around. Through a still sleep-fogged gaze, she saw that Chrom rested underneath her. And was once again serving as a pillow. Her head was against his collarbone, and his hands were still resting at the small of her back to hold her in place.

Robin twitched a hand up to brush a few bangs from his face, a hint of violet tracing across her vision.

The scars on their marks had never fully healed, even with the passage of time. But the fire in their blood was mostly at rest; right now she could barely feel anything, save for a sleepy contentment. She soaked in the warmth from her husband, and found herself nuzzling at his neck.

When she lifted her head up, he mumbled and cracked his own eyes open.

"Mmhrning?" He managed. Robin tilted her head forward and bumped her forehead against his as she nodded.

"Yes, good morning to you as well." Still half awake, he turned and pressed his lips to her cheek, before his head fell back into the pillow. Robin turned so she was out of his arms and instead laying at his side, and against him instead of on him. They stayed that way for a moment, just soaking in the morning and the other's presence. Finally Chrom turned his head to her.

"...Are there any more weddings scheduled today?"

"Not that I can remember. I think those are mostly cleared away for now." Robin stretched her arms out as she considered. "Frederick and Sumia were the last, I think."

Odd how the two that had fallen in love at almost the same time as they had, still had their marriage a full year later. Sumia had remarked that considering it was Frederick, they were lucky it only took ONE year, instead of two like she feared.

"If memory serves, our main focus for the day is diplomacy. But first..." Robin lifted herself up onto her elbows, tilting her head to listen. No cries from the chamber joining theirs. She could just make out the pale wooden beams of a crib through the doorway. Something stirred under a collection of blankets, before a soft mewl drifted into their rooms. Not quite up to full cry strength just then, but working towards it.

"Duty calls, again." Robin said, lifting herself all the way out of bed and padding towards the nursery.

The nightly interruptions hadn't been so bad, so far; it wasn't that much different getting woken up by a cry, compared to a kick. And in a few weeks, the three of them had figured out a rough sleeping schedule that satisfied everyone.

But a few weeks still hadn't dulled a strange tugging in her heart, that stirred whenever she lifted her child back up into her arms. Robin cradled her daughter close to her chest, supporting her head.

"Good morning, Lucina," Robin murmured, watching her eyes slowly open and stare up at her. They were still a brilliant blue to match the mop of hair growing in, and Robin knew she'd take after Chrom for the most part-

She went still as Lucina gave her another sleepy blink, trying to focus on her mother's face.

"...Chrom?" He must have heard the unsteadiness in her voice, and was at her side in a single breath.

"What is it? What's wrong?" All the drowsiness was gone from him. A pang of guilt went through her, and she rushed to answer.

"Nothing, nothing. At least I don't think it's anything wrong. Just... look a moment." She turned to Chrom, lifting Lucina up so he could half hold her. "Look at her left eye."

In a second, she knew he'd picked it out. One iris was a brighter, slightly paler blue than the other. A shape circled the pupil, already in place and looking familiar. As well it should have, since they saw it on Chrom's shoulder often enough.

"The Brand of the Exalt," Chrom murmured. "She already has it..."

"It took you longer?"

"I needed to find my feet before it showed up on my shoulder. She's a fast grower... which I suspect she gets from you." He brushed up against her side as he spoke, and Robin relaxed a little as he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders.

"So she'll be alright? It won't do anything to her vision?"

"I highly doubt it, but you could have Lissa examine her to make sure." As they spoke, Lucina squirmed a little. _She_ was clearly done with a slow morning, and wanted to be up and about. She wriggled a little way loose in the blankets and stretched an arm out to Robin and Chrom with a squeak.

"Alright, alright." Robin humored her, letting Chrom take Lucina as she rushed over to pull on something other than a nightshift. She swept the last of her sleep mussed hair into something vaguely presentable, and turned back to Chrom and Lucina. He held her close in one arm, the other waggling a finger in front of her that she caught in her hands.

Robin moved over to them, pausing over a purple bruise she saw on the girl's wrist. She could easily imagine Lucina bumping her arm against something, not being able to see clearly or realize what she was doing.

"...I may be a little longer with the healers than expected." She admitted. "I'm sorry, I just want to be sure she's well."

"Don't worry." Chrom handed Lucina to Robin, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Much as I like having you close by to tag team delegates, I can likely manage for a morning. Take care of her."

-o-o-o-

Even with his relaxed words in their chambers, Chrom felt his shoulders tense up as he moved towards the audience hall. If he had any choice, he'd have Robin with him; she was capable of being clever and insightful, while he could provide charisma and decent intuition. Hopefully the latter was all this meeting would require. He tugged at his cape, making certain it fell into place. At least he wasn't expected to wear full regalia; he STILL felt stifled in it, and had no idea how Emmeryn ever managed.

The thought sent a brief, stinging throb through his chest, and his steps faltered for a moment... but he didn't stop. He had the feeling that the hurt would never fully go away; only dull a little bit more as time stretched out.

But here and now, he had an ambassador of some sort to face. He didn't think they'd be Plegian, or Feroxi... and by the time he eliminated those options, the doors were already opening up. Sunlight streamed into the audience hall, picking out the gold embroidery on the tapestries. The hall was nowhere near filled to the brim, which made Chrom wonder; was this meeting really expected to take up so much of his time?

"Ah, there you are, your grace." A voice greeted him, somewhere in the empty chamber.

"Hail and well met, prince- ah, my apologies. Alas, some habits linger on, even for someone of my flexibility and ingenuity-"

"Yes, yes. You have good war memories, I know."

He knew THOSE voices, Chrom realized with a start. Frederick was waiting for him, along with two others. In an instant he picked out a familiar, much lighter head of blue hair, along with a woman dressed in familiar riding leathers and armor. He felt a grin flicker across his face as he stepped forward and clasped Virion's hand.

"I haven't seen you since the ceremonies," he said. For a moment Chrom allowed the memory to spring up. The refugees from Valm had mostly been in attendance for the coronation and his wedding to Robin, months later. A portion of treasure had gone to them, and last he'd heard, the group had settled along southern Ylisse with few complications. Most of the locals had been happy to have veterans from the Plegian war safe guarding them.

Actually, the biggest incident had come from Virion courting Maribelle before the wedding as everyone gathered, and caused an upset among the nobles.

"You didn't tell me you'd be paying us a visit." Chrom said, shaking Virion's hand. Chrom paused over an unusually serious set to Virion's expression.

"I wish I could say we planned this as a surprise. Sadly, the situation is a touch more pressing." Chrom frowned, slowly releasing the archer's hand; he noticed that Virion's fingers still carried calluses. Like him, it seemed Virion was still keeping his skills sharp in anticipation for trouble.

"What..." Chrom glanced around, noticing the audience hall was completely deserted, save for the four of them. At least he wasn't expected to mask any concern among old battle friends. "...What's wrong? I'd heard that the soldiers you brought over were settling in well?"

"They are." Cherche answered him. "Many of them compliment Ylisse's warm summers, saying it reminds them of home... but that's why we're here. We haven't forgotten our home, much as we may love Ylisse."

"...You may wish to have a seat, your grace." Frederick's voice held a tense note to it, and he motioned to the throne.

 _'Uh-oh.'_ Chrom had enough time to think. He turned towards it and sat down... but on one of the steps instead, so he wasn't too distant from the others. Frederick huffed at the breech in etiquette, while Cherche simply favored him with a smile. Out of consideration for getting to the point quickly, he motioned for her to speak.

"You're well aware we are refugees from Valm. I know Virion has spoken warmly of our home Roxanne more than once... but I'm not certain if you know the full story. We were pushed out of our country by an invading army. In the last year they have NOT been idle."

"Cherche, my pardons for interrupting. But you can't expect me to sit back and say nothing. And believe me, I have PLENTY of choice words for the conqueror... though I will try to limit my description to the best of them." Virion turned to Chrom. "He is known as Walhart, and is a ruthless, brutal, and ambitious man... and I doubt he will be satisfied with having just the continent of Valm in his grasp. More and more of the continent is falling to him, and his army is only gaining strength as it swallows up conquered forces. I believe that in another year... perhaps even another six months, he'll have it all under his banner."

"Grim news, to be certain." Frederick spoke up, from his place at the base of the steps.

"It gets worse." Cherche took up the tale. "We've had a few more refugees coming to us by way of Ferox... and a handful of spies. My lord Virion may act the fop at times, but he continues to have the interests of Roxanne in mind, and tries to keep one eye and ear on it at all times."

"...As usual, thank you for the half compliment." Virion muttered, but didn't interrupt anymore of Cherche's story.

"They've spoken of a navy being built at the harbors... Chrom, we have every reason to believe it will only be a matter of time before they set eyes on THIS continent, to bring it under sway as well." There was an air of finality to her words. And a pause lingered afterwards, waiting for Chrom to fill it. From the way their eyes rested on him, he already had a notion of what his answer was supposed to be.

And the idea made him go rigid, and his speech halting.

"I... I understand the concern, but I don't want to invade them without just cause."

"You grace! You HAVE just cause; we saw this pattern before and did nothing, thinking we could marshal our forces if need be. Walhart does not forgive lapses like that!" Virion spoke up. The words rested hard on Chrom's ears, causing his hands to ball into fists. Again he felt the calluses, but this time as an unpleasant reminder.

 _'I was expecting a Risen attack, not another war. And so soon...'_

"Are you fully doing this out of concern for Ylisse?" Chrom hated the words as soon as they came out, but still fixed Virion with a steady look, measuring his response.

"No, of course not. I AM acting in self interest for my old home, your grace. I want to give my kinsmen a hope of something, after being without it for so long and having them bleed. However... I also look out for the sake of my _new_ home and kin. I don't want a repeat of Roxanne to happen here; even though I fled, enough of my countrymen bled. I have their deaths on my mind."

 _'And I might have more blood on my hands if I agree.'_ Chrom stared at him, not ready to voice the thought just yet.

"...Virion makes a good case, Chrom." A new voice drifted in. They all turned to see Robin step out from behind the columns and walk forward. "I'm sorry for being late AND for intruding... I left Lucina in the company of her aunt, and came in just in time to hear the situation."

She nodded to Cherche and Virion, before taking a seat below Chrom... or at least started to, before he touched her elbow in a brief, insistent tug and pulled her to sit next to him.

They remained equals, even if he wasn't thrilled with her advice just then.

"If nothing else, we should see to our defenses." Frederick spoke up. "Ferox has sent a few spies as well, and they report similar news. These are not trading galleys being built, but warships and transports... Milord?"

Chrom was still gazing at his hands, unfolding and tensing them.

"I... don't want to give up our peace so readily and plunge us into a war, only a year later." Or was he supposed to bleed the country dry? He sucked his breath in as his shoulder gave a throb... the first he'd felt in months. Robin noticed it, as she placed a hand on his arm.

"I don't think ANY of us are eager for war, Chrom... but I like the idea of trying to throw back an invasion even less. From where I stand, it's the smartest decision we can make. All signs point to them preparing to invade US."

A sick feeling settled in the bottom of his stomach, and Chrom realized that things were already in motion.

"...Trying to turn back now would just lead to ruin later, I know. That doesn't mean I like this one bit." He finally said. "But you're right. If nothing else... I did promise to help your people in return for their efforts against Plegia. If we're lucky, we might be able to put a stop to this before it escalates into something more."

Robin nodded, and he wondered over the sudden squeeze she gave his arm. But when she spoke, her voice was level enough.

"Our first problem is in transport. We don't have much of a navy, and neither does Ferox. Building one might take us time."

"We'll focus on one thing at a time. First, we should send out messages to mobilize the Shepherds again." He gave Frederick an apologetic look; the knight wouldn't have much in the way of time to celebrate his wedding with Sumia.

"I'll ride out myself, along with Sumia to spread the word." Was his answer, and Chrom bit back a smile; trust him to find a way to maximize a situation. "Give us a week's time, and we should have everyone gathered... hopefully with little in the way of complaints."

"If the situation is as dire you say, they'll likely understand the urgency... if they haven't heard it and are already riding for Ylisstol." Robin answered, before drawing Chrom to his feet. "We'll try to carry out preparations of our own."

-o-o-o-

It wasn't until evening that Robin saw Chrom again. His head was downcast, and his back was to her, while his hands were busy with stripping off his cloak. The candle fame from their chambers was sparse, barely picking out the blue of his hair of the bright glimmer of his cape.

And it didn't seem to matter the cape was shed; fatigue still clung to his shoulders.

Even without war formally declared, there was plenty to prepare for. She'd been visiting the barracks, ensuring they had enough equipment to outfit their soldiers with or being able to secure it quickly. A year hadn't dulled the logistics part of her brain, Robin was relieved to know. If anything, managing trade and economics had kept it sharp.

As for Chrom... she could imagine he'd spent much of the day planning with Frederick on who to send for first. And trying to figure out the issue of their own navy. When she saw him pacing their bedchambers, it was clear the worry hadn't left him, and a solution still eluded him.

"O-oh. Robin..." He lifted his head when she shut the door behind her. "Sorry... wrapped up in my thoughts."

"I gathered as much." She stepped over to him. Chrom watched her from the corners of his eyes, a frown twisting at his face and worry creasing his eyes.

"Chrom... you aren't your father." The worry and hesitance melted from his face at that. And going by the wide eyed stare he was giving her, he hadn't known he was being THAT transparent with his thoughts. That, or she was getting much better at picking up on them. "You worry for your people, not on the next conquest."

"I... I know. It just feels like... this is something he would do. Invading another country over a vague threat, instead of focusing rebuilding and peace. But I _know_ we can't wait for a more concrete danger because it will be too late if we do, so we have to act now... I'm going in circles thinking about this." He was pacing in circles as well. Robin wondered what, if anything she could do to break him out of it... when he paused and lifted his head over to the nursery.

Before she said anything, he'd turned to the nursery. Robin automatically went into step with him, following him into the chamber. A blanket wrapped figure rested in the bed, finished with Lissa doting on her for the day.

Chrom stretched a hand down to Lucina, and she gave a faint stir in response.

"There's selfish reasons for why I don't want to go to war, either." He murmured, brushing Lucina's bangs out of her face. "I don't want to leave you alone... or Lucina. I'd rather be there for both of you."

"...Who said anything about you going without me?" Robin raised an eyebrow at him, and she could already see a protest building in his throat. "Chrom, no. I'm your tactician, remember?"

Chrom raised his hand back from their daughter, shaking his head.

"You're also my wife. Lucina needs her mother-"

"And her father! I want to protect you as well!" She wasn't going to sit back and watch him move off into a war, Robin understood that already. From their raised voices, Lucina gave a tiny whimper. Robin forced herself to breathe in, the same as Chrom did.

And to stop any cries from happening, she scooped her daughter back up, keeping her close. Chrom stepped away from them, giving Robin room to comfort their daughter... but with a frown remaining in place.

"You do realize you were all but bedridden a few weeks ago," he tried, but Robin heard none of it. It didn't hurt that Chrom had trailed off, eyes narrowed for a moment.

"And NOW I'm up and standing, easily. And it was just that; weeks." Robin pointed out, walking to their bedchamber. She favored her left hand with supporting Lucina, feeling a strange twinge and tug in the right. "You don't need to treat me as something fragile."

"I- I don't... mean to-"

He stopped short. A shocked, pained look flashed across his eyes. The ache in her hand spiked, right as she saw Chrom's balance give out. He shuddered and collapsed against the bed, desperately holding onto Lucina. He just managed to drop her against the mattress, before slumping towards the ground... hand clasped to his shoulder.

-o-o-o-

"Gods!" He spat out the curse between his teeth. Chrom thought his arm was going to burn from the inside out, with how it ached. He blinked through the tears in his eyes and stared at the Emblem placed above them.

"Why isn't it-" doing anything? He thought it was supposed to help, to keep everything in control just like it always had for the last year. He gave another shudder, and felt Robin shift just enough to put her unmarked hand over his shoulder. His other hand grasped for hers, and he felt heat through his gloves when he closed his fingers around the brand.

Just as suddenly as the pain started, it snapped back out. Chrom forced himself to take a deep breath and let it out, until he was sure it wouldn't come back. Then, he looked at Robin.

"What... what just happened?" Her wide eyes showed she had no answer for him.

Lucina's cries forced them both back to their feet. Robin lifted her up with trembling hands as she sat on the bed. Chrom pulled himself onto the mattress, and circled his arms around them. Both of them were shaking hard.

"I... I don't know." Robin stared at her hand. "Why _now_!? They'd been silent until now. Unless..."

Her head slumped against him.

"...Unless the situation in Valm is making the brands stir. Chrom, I think conflict really might be inevitable, if they're already reacting like this." He felt like a weight had suddenly tied itself to his chest, and squeezing Robin and Lucina close did nothing to dislodge it.

"...It means that we have to fight." He whispered out. "And try to stop this as fast as we can. I knew we were waiting, in a way... I just wished we could have waited for longer."

Robin turned in his grip, brushing their cheeks together.

"It was almost a year..." he hunched forward as he spoke, tightening his grip around Robin. "I'd hoped that the Emblem and gemstone was enough-"

Robin sucked in her breath, and he felt a shiver move through her.

"I know, Chrom... I was praying that it would stop when Plegia surrendered. And for a while I was sure it was resolved. But now it's clear this was just hibernating."

Chrom ducked his head against her, shutting his eyes.

 _'You can't have her to wait here, knowing this is happening to her, too.'_

"But... We'll face it together." She promised him. And that eased the weight in his chest, at least by a little.

"Right. Together. It looks like I might need you to come along after all. You've been pretty adept at saving me from this, before-"

"Likewise. Chrom, I won't tell you not to worry... but I promise I'll do everything I can to resolve this quickly." Lucina gave a sleepy murmur in her arms, settling now that the danger had passed. "You're right; she needs her mother... but she'll also need her father back as well. All the more reason for me to come along, and keep you safe."


	29. Armaments

**Chapter 29: Armaments**

Exhaustion had a way of making even the most nerve wracking night pass in a blink. All Robin could remember was resting beside Chrom and cradling Lucina in her arms. Of trying to give them all some measure of calm.

In the next moment, she was blinking awake from a deep and dreamless sleep, with morning light teasing her eyes open. Her daughter was still curled up next to her, eyes staying shut even when a burst of surprise raced through Robin and yanked her into wakefulness.

 _'Careless! W_ _hat if you ro_ _lled over onto Lucina in your sleep?'_ She berated herself, only relaxing when it was clear her daughter was breathing easy. The bruise on the girl's arm remained, as their daughter stretched her arms and brushed against Chrom's face. The purple blemish stood out against Chrom's hair and skin.

Something about it haunted Robin, even as Chrom woke and demanded her attention. She set Lucina down to rest against the pillows, and turned her attention to him.

With all that had happened the prior night, Chrom wasn't much for conversation. Instead he sat up in their bed, rubbing at his head and making a tired noise in the back of his throat. Robin couldn't blame him, as she found herself at a loss for words. Instead of speaking, Chrom rested a hand on her shoulder, trailing it down to her wrist.

"You're alright?" His voice was rough and in need of water. Robin had to swallow around her own raw throat before she could manage a few words.

"I... can manage." She shifted, twisting her wrist so Chrom's thumb rested over her scar. "It still feels... raw. It's as if I'm carrying a half healed wound."

Her husband gave a nod at that, eyebrows furrowing together.

"The same as me, then. It has a soft ache to it, but not much else. Not enough to stop me from stepping back out and..." Chrom trailed off, the prior day catching up to him with how he blanched. "Right. War preparations. Is it too late to say I feel too pained to get out of bed?"

Robin's answer was giving Chrom a prod to the shoulder. The unscarred one, but enough to push him to the edge of the bed.

"Put on a brave face, Chrom. And I can accompany you in this. Lucina should be able to rest. And Lissa can likely be persuaded to care for her again."

Chrom put on a brief show of grumbling and shaking his head, but still prepared for the new day. And true to her word, Robin accompanied him to the main hall.

There was already an unlikely figure waiting for them, a few watery sunbeams catching on the pale blue trim of his armor.

"Frederick?" Chrom tilted his head. "I thought you and Sumia were leaving." The knight turned to them, and with a troubled look on his face; there were dark circles under his eyes, suggestion any rest had evaded him.

"We were... until this arrived for you." Frederick stepped forward, hand outstretched and fingers curled around a rolled scroll of paper. The edges were trimmed with rich violet paint, and hints of gracefully penned script peeked out of the edges. But what caught and held Robin's eye was a wax seal on the front; a great eye stared back at them, crafted in such a way that it would have been at home on Robin's own hand.

"I thought you would want to read it as soon as possible." Frederick supplied. Chrom took the scroll and unfurled it, fingers thumbing and breaking the wax. Robin tried, and failed to look over his shoulder enough to read, so he summarized for her.

"News from Plegia... apparently they've heard the rumblings of war as well. They say they have a solution to our ship problem..."

"Of course!" Robin squeaked out. Her hands half twitched up to try and cover her mouth from that outburst, but the rest of her mind was whirring too fast to worry about the way her voice pitched up high. "They have a navy of their own, if not the soldiers to man it. Perhaps... they are under a new king now. We might have a hope with them."

Yet it wasn't a hope Chrom was that convinced of. Not with the way he frowned and scanned the message again and again. With the set to his eyes, it was as if he expected the words to have some hidden threat to them.

"Aye, we might... but they say that they want to meetings to occur inside their borders." Chrom rubbed at his forehead, furling the scroll. "We should speed a messenger back with our reply. Robin, what should we say?"

She'd half reached for the message, to try and examine it further, but Chrom's question stopped her short. It was one she wanted to turn over in her head, and yet she could only come to one answer.

"...We need their help, if we're going to stand a chance against this Valm threat. I think we have no choice but to humor them. Let's just hope that this visit goes a touch smoother than the last."

-o-o-o-

The days stretched by, and they penned their answer to Plegia. Frederick and Sumia both sped out with messages and summons of their own. In a way, Chrom wished that they'd take their time, savor the other's company... and yet he knew they'd move with all haste.

They could be a bit too zealous in their work drive, in that way. And the messages made fast progress.

Libra and Miriel were among the first to arrive at the castle, thanks in part to the urgency of the summons Chrom had sent out to them. He'd been worried about writing too much in the way of specifics, but had hopefully conveyed enough on just WHY he needed them there.

The two had made good time, even reaching Ylisse ahead of their spouses.

Chrom had winced at that, rushing to the castle courtyard once he heard the stamp and snort of horses. He caught sight of Miriel dismounting and adjusting her hat, scanning her surroundings from underneath it and noting the small changes to the castle. Libra's eyes rested on Chrom, taking in the prince himself.

"It gladdens my heart, to see you-"

"...Human?" Robin raised the question, stepping out from behind Chrom.

"Safe." Libra provided. "You seem to retain some control,"

"If some discomfort." Chrom finished. "But sudden pain and boiling blood isn't a threat I want to be laboring under. Not... when there's so much else that needs to be attended."

"Ah, yes. Our uncertain contacts from across the narrow sea. I'd been privy to murmurings, here and there." Miriel supplied. She gazed over the tops of her glasses, regarding Chrom and Robin both... and his shoulder seemed to squirm, under her eyes. "I'm not surprised the stress weighs upon you so... and causes the Brands to stir."

"Would it be possible to continue this conversation inside?" Chrom found himself asking. Even if it was his courtyard and home, just then it felt like there were too many eyes on them. And too many ears; he'd rather they continued in the barracks... and thankfully the Shepherd's obliged him.

Miriel had no problems with filling the quiet with her own questions, however; by the time they reached an empty room, it seemed that Chrom and Robin had recounted everything since their wedding.

...In a way, it was almost a relief when Miriel asked for some blood samples. Being prodded with a needle was better than the constant questions. Robin winced from the pinprick, sitting down and leaning against the solitary table taking up the barrack's room.

Chrom sat next to Robin. And watched Miriel pour over the vials, lifting them up to the sunlight and scrutinizing the red fluid inside.

"An unusual occurrence." Miriel offered at last, glancing up from the vials she'd taken. "I'd thought that the Emblem would be enough... yet the magical signature to it has changed. It offers you a slight reprieve, yet that is all. While I believe neither of you are in danger yet of spontaneously combusting... the link has become frayed. The best explanation I can offer is that both of your marks are reacting to the threat from Valm."

"Far from shocking, as it's a threat to your charge; your very country." Libra's voice carried a solemn note. The same one he'd used during so many ceremonies, whenever the situation carried gravity to it. "I've heard the rumors of a possible threat from across the sea and... it worries even me. If it causes such unease among the people, perhaps it makes sense you would react to it with even more fervor."

Miriel nodded at Libra's observations, but remained focused on her own work. A sizzling and faint burning scent filled the air.

"I only need to review the blood samples I took from the two of you, to understand that you may not retain control for long... or rather, the remains of the samples." Miriel raised what appeared to be melted glass. "You have power stirring in you once more. I barely had time to examine these, before they burned straight through. And... there's the fact I did this well beyond the reach of the Emblem. I believe Ylisse's treasure is the one thing keeping you intact. And even then... I have my concerns that you may have a repeat of Plegia if you try to repress it for too long."

"So no hiding from this," Robin sighed from across the table, eyes still fixed to the vials. From the wary look she gave them, Robin seemed to half expect their own skin to ignite.

 _'Given what almost happened to us, can you blame her?'_

"So we don't have much in the way of options." Chrom sighed out, and Robin echoed him with a long exhale.

"Perhaps not," Libra answered. "Though I've heard that you may need to exercise some control, if the meetings with Plegia go as planned."

Chrom groaned, feeling another headache coming on.

-o-o-o-

Evening saw a few more Shepherds arriving. The familiar faces seemed to raise Chrom's spirits... and yet also had him appear as if a noose was tightening around his neck.

 _'_ _H_ _e's afraid. And why wouldn't he be? Each new arrival makes it more and more clear, what we need to do.'_ And there wasn't much Robin could do for that... beyond wishing she could rest a hand on his back. It would be a reminder that whatever else, he wouldn't face it alone.

Even now, her fingers twitched. It didn't matter if she couldn't see Chrom's back or shoulder. Which was why she found herself wandering the palace, eyes roving and searching with a restless energy.

"Sure doesn't take him long to go off and brood." Lissa grumbled from where she walked, shadowing Robin's footsteps. With the restlessness shaking through Robin's arms, Lissa had taken over the task of carrying her niece; for her part Lucina dozed in Lissa's arms. "All he does is speak to some new arrivals, and then pulls a vanishing act. If it wasn't for the fact you're still here, I'd be convinced he'd slipped the palace completely. And gone through with eloping and taking a second honeymoon."

With the way she gave Robin a smug, knowing glance, Robin found herself going red in the face.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess... But where did he go-?" Robin murmured, rounding a corner. And finding herself in a familiar courtyard, with the late afternoon sun streaming in dusty rays through a rent in the far wall.

Chrom's white cape twisted in the air, catching her eye and drawing her towards him. But her husband didn't seem to hear her steps, eyes staying fixed at one of the walls where he paced back and forth.

"You seem to gravitate to this courtyard a great deal," Robin murmured, stepping towards Chrom and pulling him out of whatever revere he was in the middle of.

"R-Robin? Ah... I suppose I am. I'm-"

"...Dwelling on the past. Again." Lissa sighed, stepping up next to Robin and giving her brother a look that screamed 'tested patience.'

"You're going to wear a trench through the grass with how much you're pacing around. Maybe try giving it a rest?" Lissa circled around to his other side; with her arm's full of Lucina, she had to settle for poking an elbow in Chrom's side. Robin helped pick up the slack by putting a hand at his shoulder. The two points of pressure guided Chrom away from the courtyard.

Robin's eyes temporarily scanned the courtyard out of habit, and found themselves resting on a familiar portrait. And she could feel through his back how Chrom relaxed, once the painting of Duran was behind him.

"So. Would this be a good time to tell you that the Plegians are sending more letters to you? They've determined a spot." For her part, Lissa seemed determined to keep Chrom's mind focused on other matters. And keeping him moving through the caste halls. "Some place called 'Carrion Island,' and you've got to _love_ their flare for the dramatic. Or foreboding."

The sunlight was turning into scarcely more than dim, blued out echoes. The light cast an eerie glow in the halls, and didn't aid in banishing the chill creeping down Robin's back.

"...Doesn't sound very welcoming." She murmured. But even with that dread, she still matched her steps to Lissa, taking Chrom to a place he'd hopefully rest. Chrom dipped his head with a rasp of breath.

"Something about historical significance... if I remember the diplomacy." Chrom mumbled. "And... ugh, since we're pressed for time in gaining allies-"

Robin put a hand between his shoulders, giving one encouraging and agreeing pat. "Not a lot of options. Again. We seem set on one path; meeting their requests and hoping they will extend favors in return. But... there's nothing that prevents us in preparing for the encounter."

With those words, Robin reached out and rested her fingers on a door. She put a bit of pressure down her arm, and opened the way to their bedchambers.

With the passing days, the rooms were beginning to resemble a particularly messy library. Plans, maps, and equipment had found new resting spots on furniture, and even decorated some of the floor space as an odd and motley collection of improvised floor tiles.

Lissa's one comment to the display was stepping over it and making a line to Lucina's crib. Robin had a feeling her own room was even more cluttered, with how few complaints she raised.

"So, what's next in your plans? Other than calling some maids in to clean all of this up?" Robin winced at Lissa's questions; apparently her sister-in-law was still up for teasing, even with the situation.

"I... I think-" Chrom began, only to trail off and rub at his head. With her hand on his back, Robin felt his balance waver a second before his knees turned to water. Robin shoved her shoulder under his arm, and found herself staggering with him towards their bed, before Chrom's balance gave out completely.

Robin just glimpsed Lissa staring at them from Lucina's room, right when they hit the mattress. And with a rush of breath, Robin found it wasn't just Chrom's weight pushing her to the bed; a sudden weakness had spread through her limbs.

"I-I'm sorry-" Chrom gasped out. "My head just-"

Robin flinched and found herself flat on the covers. A spike in her temperature made her eyes narrow, and her pulse gave a throb in time to a familiar pain growing in her hand. She stayed dimly aware that Lissa was crossing to the bed, and picked out another spot of warmth from someone leaning over them both.

"...I should've known something was up. Especially with all the prodding Miriel was doing; it was bound to have and effect on the Brands." Lissa grumbled. Off in the crib, a confused mewl echoed out as Lucina blinked her eyes awake and plainly wondered where her family was.

"I..." Robin tried to sit up from the cushions, only for Lissa to nudge her back down.

"Oh _no_ you don't. Save your energy on getting your bearings back, and not setting yourselves on fire. The bed sheets are way too nice for that." Lissa managed a strained chuckle at her own joke. "So just tell me what you need, instead."

Robin shut her eyes, to better listen to Lissa's words, and to try and get the room to stop spinning around her. "L-Lucina, please. I don't want her to be afraid-"

In answer, Lissa's feet pattered against the floor, only to return a moment later. A warm bundle was pressed into Robin's arms, and she opened her eyes in time to cradle Lucina up against her chest. The weight of her daughter seemed to counter the burning in her hand, and when her eyes found the Emblem overhead, her pulse faded down to a soft thrum.

The sensation faded out even further when a hand touched her wrist. A shiver had hooked into Chrom's fingers, but he still kept contact with her. It seemed to do something to steady him, as his sides stopped fluttering against hers, and he found a calmer way to breathe.

"...I hope this doesn't turn into a regular thing." Robin sighed out. "I don't need our marks reminding me every night that we're running out of time to prepare for this Valmese threat."

There was a creak in the mattress, followed by Chrom shifting over to rest his head against her shoulder with an agreeing groan, and utterly ignoring how Lissa still watched them.

"...And it seems you're going to need to rest up. Because I don't think we want a repeat of this at Plegia." Lissa said, shaking her head. "Which... not to add to your stress or anything, but even if we need those ships, I don't feel very confident about going over there."

"About that," Robin found herself saying.

"Lissa? Could I ask another favor of you? When the time comes for us to leave for Plegia, there's something I don't want to be without." Robin pointed to a bookshelf as she spoke. Lissa stepped over to it, pulling up a stool and standing on the tips of her toes as Robin directed to her to the topmost corner of the shelf. Behind her, she heard Chrom rustling on the bed sheets, propping himself up on his elbow.

"Why do you need something you've put so far out of the way?" Lissa complained as she finally snatched the book off of the shelf.

"I'm starting to wonder the same thing-" Chrom started to say, only to trail off when he saw the cover.

So he hadn't forgotten about the details either, even after a year and a half. Robin stretched a hand out, tracing her fingers over the lightning bolts as Lissa held the book out. She had a puzzled look on her face as she looked between it and Robin.

"A... a Thoron tome? You've had THAT but you've never used it?"

"I never had the skill for it, until after the war with Plegia was done. And... I was hesitant to use it as well."

"Robin..." Chrom started, right as understanding flickered across Lissa's face.

"Waiiiit a second. I think I know that book; you had it all the way back when you first joined the Shepherds, didn't you?"

"Yes. And... I know this sounds foolish, but it was something left over from whoever I was before. I just wanted it... on hand for a situation where it was absolutely necessary. Besides that, weapons break in battle and I-"

"That isn't foolish, Robin." Lissa shook her head. "That's a lot more like prioritizing. To be honest, I have a healing stave Emm gave me when I wanted to be a cleric, and I _still_ haven't used it. But if you don't mind me asking, why now?"

"Because..." of an odd feeling settling into her gut, and buzzing in the back of her head. And a slight chill when she thought of going back to Plegia. None of which she could put fully into words. "It just... seems like the right time, finally. Plus, we'll need whatever advantages we have, if we're dealing with Valm and are uncertain about Plegia. I've no wish to be caught unprepared."

"Just a few weeks to prepare," Chrom murmured. "And we'll need any advantages we can get."

"Including a restored mind." Lissa pointed out. "And... if Robin can promise to pin you to the bed if you think of wandering off, I can leave you to get some rest."


	30. Strained Meetings

**Chapter 30: Strained Meetings**

"Carrion Island... I hope the place doesn't live up to its name." Robin said as she stepped onto the approach. Well beyond them, was the tiny Ylissean ship that ferried them there. It wasn't much to speak of; just a hastily borrowed and converted merchant ship for their forces.

"My understanding is that it acts as a burial ground for some of their more distinguished dead." Chrom answered. "At least that's what Frederick told me... but I also hope for the same."

Robin plucked up the Thoron tome and ran her fingers over the pages. She felt a crackle in response at her finger tips. The advanced spells in the tome felt almost like breathing now, and she paused in wonder over how far they'd come. Over how her understanding of magic had increased, to give her enough of hold over the spells under her hand.

Robin glanced around as they made their way up the island slopes. The scenery didn't make for much of a welcome, any more than the name of the spot; it was all gray dirt and boot scuffing gravel. The parched ground mingled with somber pines, drained of any green.

In short, gray, gray, and more gray, combined with an overcast sky.

The castle on top of the hills drew the eye, if only because the blackened stones it was made from stood out against the rest of the landscape. It looked almost like a cathedral, with the tall spires reaching off of it... but that didn't keep Robin from suppressing a shiver that raced down her back. There wasn't much about it that suggested a holy place, or sanctuary.

...If anything, she was sure all the hairs in her head were trying to stand up on end. There was something about the place that was setting her teeth on edge-

 _'Stop that.'_ She backed the thought up with a pinch to her arm, looking around at the other Shepherds. Plenty of them looked nervous, some even panted for breath from the ascent uphill, but none of them seemed ready to bolt from some vague impulse that she couldn't even define. She was going to start jumping over nothing... and that would help no one.

A light pressure closed around her free hand, and Robin ALMOST jumped from it. Instead her muscles gave a quick jolt as she turned around to look at Chrom. He gave her a sheepish, almost smile and murmured out, "Sorry... you were looking tense."

"I feel tense..." Robin admitted. "But I'm trying not to have it get to me. All of you need someone with a good head for tactics, not someone jumping at every shadow."

Still, her fingers found themselves weaving between his. And if she focused on them, she felt a little better. Better enough that she raised her head, and watched the structure now towering over them.

 _'Big. But not much in the way of fires burning in the most distant windows, so there isn't much of a garrison. Not that they need much with how ominous it-_ _ **stop that**_ _.'_

Robin managed to choke back that gut roiling feeling as they walked inside. As per the plans, Vaike, Lissa, and Lon'qu remained outside along with Maribelle and Libra. She didn't think she imagined Libra giving a relieved sigh that he wouldn't have to go inside... and Lissa also looked more at ease.

 _'It's because this is a temple to Grima. Of_ _ **course**_ _people loyal to Naga wouldn't want to go inside.'_ Robin told herself, and noticed how even Chrom's eyes were starting to dart around once the walls closed around them. The massive hall inside the cathedral didn't offer much; just long columns hung with torches, and a roof so high it felt like walking through a stone forest.

That many points of torch light set her skin to prickling, and she knew Chrom felt the same from how his hand tightened around hers. The mark on her hand began to itch, and she repeated _'not now!'_ until it turned to a prayer of sorts.

Chrom was forcing himself to take steady breaths, and not look too closely at any of the torches.

"Fires again..." he muttered, still troubled by how much of a reaction they both had. "But they couldn't know anything about that, could they? This has to be just according to the design of the building, but..." but he still felt completely out of his element. That much was clear in how he gripped at her for something stable.

"...Why does it feel like I've seen this before?" Robin asked before she could think. A pressure built between her eyes when she voiced the thought, and she pinched at the bridge of her nose to try and quell it. "Or... not this, but something like it-"

She cut the thought short when she spotted something that wasn't stone work or flame. At the end of the hall, the space stretched out a little more to show a round chamber where an alter could have been. Robin could barely pick out doorways beyond the chamber, cut into the stone walls. Shafts of iron hung from the ceiling, ending in points that a single flame flickered in. It provided dim light that cloaked the audience room. The entire thing felt like walking into a giant mouth.

Chrom saw a figure at the end of the main hall the same time Robin did. Robin took in a quick glance and saw there were no weapons present... no soldiers, for that matter. Either they were walking into something very hospitable, or an ambush.

She had to break contact with him, Robin knew; they couldn't afford to show anything that could be seen as weakness, even as simple as relying on one another for strength. She gave his hand one last squeeze, before letting go.

"My lords," she recognized the sickly sweet, velvety voice sliding through the air, accompanying the figure stepping into the torch light. Chrom did as well, tensing up next to her.

"...Aversera." But for all that, he kept his voice as level as possible. The sorceress dipped her head, a faint amused glint showing in her eyes.

"It has been quite some time; I'm touched that you remember me."

 _'It would be hard to forget someone who had a hand in killing his sister.'_ Robin thought. Aversera's eyes roamed over both of them, searching.

"You did not bring the Fire Emblem with you? I gathered from hearsay that you were quite attached to it, though as an artifact or a memento of your late sister, I cannot say…"

Chrom bristled beside Robin, and his eyes flashed to hers for a moment to make contact. Robin tried to give him a gentle smile… though at the moment her expressions felt watery. But something in it must have steadied him by a little, as his voice was level when he spoke.

"I carried it with me on the journey, but left it with a retainer outside." Robin hoped Lissa was keeping the Emblem safe. Though she DID have a death grip on it while it was left in her care, and Vaike and Lon'qu likewise had kept a steady hand on their weapons.

"...As you say. I suppose I cannot fault you for some caution." Aversa said, but Robin was certain there was a hint of disappointment in her voice. Yet, the sorceress didn't dwell on that for long. Not when she'd seen and noted Chrom's bristle, and the way a growl tried to creep into his voice.

"You seem ill at ease, my lords. Does the poor lighting strain your eyes? We really should fit better candles to such an esteemed place of worship." Aversa's eyes glittered as she gave them a veiled, sympathetic look. "Still, for the sake of your ease I could expend a little power to better suit you..."

At her words, the flames gave a bright flare that left Robin seeing spots... and set her brand back up to throbbing. Chrom stiffened beside her, and leather in their gloves both creaked as their hands tensed and balled into fists.

"My lady... we..." She struggled to find something to say, as the flames burned the edges of her vision and thoughts. Gods help them, she could feel her skin begin to stretch. Through the haze settling in front of her, she saw Aversa watching them with a barely concealed smirk. "We already ask much of your hospitality. You don't need to expend so much on our comfort."

She latched onto the words, praying they'd been phrased right-

"...Such a considerate guest." A new voice sliced into her hearing, and her brain reeled in confusion at its sound. And something familiar behind it. "She is correct, Aversa. If they are... comfortable with the situation as is, we should respect them for it. There is no need to expend any energy on trivial spells, when we should focus on the matter at hand."

Mercifully, the brightness cut out, plunging the room back into shadows. Robin couldn't make out the new speaker, surrounded as he was by black. By some miracle, she and Chrom had kept their balance... and most of their composure, from how Chrom easily straightened himself.

"My thanks," he said with a deep breath in. Robin also worked on catching her breath and reordering her thoughts, looking at Aversa and searching for some hint of her plans. All she could see was that same half smile, like this was all some sort of game to the sorceress.

"I... must say, I am surprised at this choice for a meeting." Robin gave a silent thanks for Frederick's presence. The knight stepped forward, giving her and Chrom a moment to get a little more focus back. While Frederick was blinking his own eyes to clear them, the flames hadn't bitten into him the same way. "I had thought you would prefer to discuss terms at your capital-"

"Out of comfort? No, we have our spirituality just like Ylisse; it gives us strength to persevere." The new voice answered Frederick.

"You are Grimleal, then?" Frederick continued, and Robin could practically hear the arched eyebrow in his voice.

"As are many of us, including dear Aversa. The faith has sustained so many of us through trying times..." Listening to the voice, Robin wanted to bring her hands up to her head and jog whatever was lurking in it loose. She was SURE she'd heard the voice before, somewhere... and exactly on the edge of her mind.

"Ah yes, it's enabled such quick healing for many of us as well." Aversa continued her king's thoughts, but with a far more coy edge to her voice. "It's a shame not all scars can heal as quickly, considering you..."

"We manage." Chrom's voice cut in. "And at the moment, the more important thing is focusing on Valm-"

"Of course, of course. And introductions are in order; I am Validar, honored of course to meet with a fellow man of such standing." The king continued... and slowly stepped into the light. The torches caught thin, shimmering bands of gold sewn into his robes, and ornamental jewelry draped across him like metallic fangs. Robin forced herself to remain still as she studied him-

And nearly bolted when she saw his face. Those red eyes, like cuts on his face were still the same.

 _'The same as before.'_

And once again she felt like she was going to collapse under them.

"It... it can't be." She whispered out.

 _'Oh, I know you.'_ The same voice. It echoed in her head, and all around her the world felt a little less solid. The floor began to wobble underneath her feet. Underneath the drowning sensation came Chrom's voice.

"Validar? The... honor is mine. But have we met-?" A second later, and she knew Chrom was remembering the same thing, from how he bit back a curse.

"Oh, I assure you not, Exalt-Regent. I would surely remember being in such esteemed and interesting company."

"I... I apologize. I need a moment with Robin. Frederick, perhaps you could explain our situation to them?" Chrom didn't pause to see if that would be allowed, or if anyone would argue. Robin felt him loop an arm around hers, turning her away for a moment. As Frederick began to speak, he dropped his voice down to a whisper.

"Robin... You saw it?"

"He's exactly the same," she murmured, shutting her eyes in the hope that would make the torch light waver a little less. Instead, she found her memory pulling up the image of Ylisse's halls by night. "He's the same as the assassin that made an attempt on Emmeryn. I _know_ he his."

"But... we killed him. How could he possibly-?"

"So much whispering, and the negotiations have barely begun." Validar's voice drifted into their ears. Robin didn't rise to the voice, instead opening her eyes and focusing straight at Chrom's face. She saw that there were beads of sweat forming on his brow... and that his pupils had a slight, slit shape to them. But he was still focusing on her.

"...We have to go along with it for now." He grumbled. "But stay close, and be ready for anything." They turned back to the Plegians, standing shoulder to shoulder and as close as possible.

"Ah, good. The Lady Robin is well enough to join us after all. I had my concerns..."

"You know me?" She couldn't stop the question from tumbling out. Validar laughed in response; even when pleased, his voice had a sharp and sinister edge to it.

"Oh, I know you."

 _'Don't flinch. Don't twitch... don't even breathe.'_

"The entire world has heard of Ylisse's esteemed tactician. And a few other tales as well, curiously enough. They say you fight like dragons in the heat of battle, after all."

Robin remembered to breathe, and was able to duck her head in an attempt at feigned modesty. "Ah... they probably grow in telling. My main interests are in protecting Ylisse and her allies from Valm."

"...Indeed. And I do hope we can forge something of an alliance. By way of that, Plegia would be glad to lend you eight hundred warships, and two hundred transports. In addition, our coffers are rich enough that we may fund the entirety of the campaign."

"That is... generous of you, your grace." Frederick spoke.

"Need I remind you that if Valm invades, Plegia is vulnerable with our coasts. And," Robin froze at the sudden venom lancing through his voice. "I would be dead before I allowed them to make landfall and soil my country with their zeal. We are glad to support Ylisse and Ferox in this endeavor... if we have an agreement."

He stretched a hand out towards Robin... but it was Chrom who stepped forward. Validar's eyes flickered over Robin, curious and seemingly trying to gauge something in her. Robin forced herself to stand still and remain stone faced... and hoped that her robes hid the shakes beginning to travel through her arms.

"I apologize for needing to make haste, but we must return to Ylisse in order to prepare for battle," Chrom spoke over whatever the Plegian Ruler was attempting, forcing the man's answer.

"...Truly? A shame you must leave so quickly. I'd hoped to introduce one more person to this summit." Validar answered, freezing Chrom.

"...Who would that be?" He finally said, while his shoulders twitched and showed he dearly wanted to be on their way. A feeling Robin easily shared.

"A hierophant; the most exalted and revered of her order in the Grimleal." Validar stepped to one side. Just outside of the candle light, Robin picked a figure walking towards them. How long the newcomer had been there, she didn't know. The chamber seemed determined to hide any number of surprises from visitors. She still couldn't pick out any features, thanks to the face being obscured by a hood-

A hood identical to her own. Robin wavered as she picked out more details; the same eye pattern as what was on her own sleeves, the same colors and materials-

 _'That means nothing.'_ She told herself, in a vain attempt to get the world a little more stable and for breath to go back into her lungs. _'It just proves that this is common clothing in Plegia... though I don't remember seeing anyone else wear such a thing-'_

She couldn't take her eyes from the figure Validar introduced as the Hierophant. The room wobbled around her, and from the scuff of boots on stone, Robin realized the newcomer had taken a step closer.

"So you lead the people in worship?" A flicker of curiosity sparked underneath the confusion, and she found herself tilting her head. "I admit I... never read or heard all that much about the Grimleal."

Why was that, a stray thought teased at her head; wouldn't it be a good thing to look into? It teased at her thoughts, tugging at her curiosity with a strange cold whisper.

Through it all, the figure said nothing.

"I'm... I'm sorry, did I say something to offend?" Her voice slipped loose, trying to force some sort of order back into the situation. Instead, the Hierophant lifted her cowled head to gaze at Robin from underneath it.

Through the strange tipsiness the world had taken on, Robin felt an ache in her hand, as unseen eyes underneath the hood focused on it.

"...The heart still sleeps, but the blood flows through it. And the blood is strong..."

The ache turned into a soft pulse, drumming in time to her heartbeat. She half wondered if she'd heard or imagined those words.

"Beg... beg pardon? Are you talking to me?" Robin's voice echoed out, sounding strained and near breaking.

"Hierophant," Frederick's voice cut through the fog. "I would ask you lower your cowl. In Ylisse, it is a courtesy expected of one in presence of royalty."

"You are a long way from Ylisse, sir..." the Hierophant's voice thrummed through the air. "But very well..."

The cloth sighed as a pair of hands pulled it loose, falling down to show-

The bottom fell out of the world.

"Is that better?" Robin's reflection asked them. The same eyes, hair, face... the only thing different was a knowing look settled across Robin's mirrored features. She knew that her own were wide with shock.

"Wh-what!?" Her voice rasped out, as the world swirled madly around Robin and her double. It felt like she was falling through a vortex, with the Hierophant at the center of it.

Other voices echoed around her, drowned out until she felt a hand close around her shoulders. She looked up to see Chrom standing behind her, and was vaguely aware that she'd almost fallen over.

"She... she looks just like... me." Robin wondered if this version of her would also have her hand burn off; that was what it felt like her own wanted to do just then.

"My name is Robin," the voice drifted around her, as the Hierophant favored her with a sharp, almost predatory smile that cut right through her. "Oh, and that was YOUR name as well, wasn't it? What a strange coincidence..."

 _'What an amusing play thing...'_ Her expression said.

"What is the meaning of this!? Why does your Hierophant and Robin-" Chrom's voice cut through, pulling her back. The world turned steadier when she felt his hands on her shoulders, anchoring her back in reality.

The Hierophant raised her eyes to Chrom... and she felt a shudder move through him. A strange light flickered across the Hierophant's eyes, right before she raised her cowl and shrouded her features once more.

"I see you have a fire to you, your grace. I hope it serves you well in the upcoming battles." The Hierophant said, turning from them. Chrom drew in a shaky breath to call out to her, only for Validar to interrupt.

"Ah, it seems your tactician may be feeling ill. Such a shame... but I fear we have our own preparations to make, as you said. And you have a long journey back to Ylisse. Do be careful on your way back." Validar glanced to Robin, a smile twisting his lips.

"Still, I trust we are in agreement, in terms of alliance?" Validar put out his hand again, offering it to Robin to complete their bargain. Instead Chrom took the offered hand, sparing her that.

A small wince flickered through Chrom as they shook hands. So slight Robin might have missed it, if she wasn't standing right next to him and felt his muscles tense up.

When he pulled his hand away, a faint red scratch trailed along his skin, from where Validar had made contact. And when Validar pulled his hand away, she thought she saw red on his long nails.

"Apologies, your grace. The ornamental regalia can be troublesome things at times, but still a necessary mark of the priesthood." She also swore she saw a momentary smirk flicker across Validar's face… but just like that it was gone, as his hands vanished back into the sleeves of his robes. "You've had more than your share of discomfort; I won't take it amiss if you wish to return to Ylisse now. But rest assured that by the next new moon, Plegia's ships will be ready at Ferox's harbor."

And at those words, Validar and Aversa left as well, the fire from the candles snuffing out as they left the wavering ring of light.

-o-o-o-

Validar's footsteps echoed off the stone as he moved through the old temple hallways. The stones around him showed their age in places, soot stains from candles and torches dotting bricks, the mortar worn away in parts. Even the carvings of dragons wrought in darker stone were also beginning to lose their luster. But for all that, there was still old power in this place, laid down generations ago.

And now, it would be his turn to tap that power, with the proper preparations.

"My lord…?" Aversa's voice echoed behind him, as she respectfully kept her distance behind him. The playfulness in her tone had long since died, with the departure of the Ylisseans.

"That verged into excess on your part, child." He answered, not even looking back at her. "Flaring the lights by only a touch would have been enough of a test, for our purposes."

"Surely it-"

"It would have been a difficult situation for us, to awaken TWO dragons in a temple. I doubt it would survive their combined efforts. Still…" only then did he favor her with so much as a side glance. "You wore on their control quite nicely. What comes next will be much simpler, now that their minds have been dulled by stress and shock."

He thought back to Robin's expression when the Hierophant removed her hood, and gave a tight smile.

' _Grima wills it. Her power may be dimmed, but it still gives us what we need… and it will not remain dimmed for long.'_

"A shame they didn't bring the Emblem with them. It would have made things much simpler-"

"The Emblem is incomplete, Aversa. While I would have enjoyed having it in my grasp… I will not chance a head on assault with them again." There was, after all, a limit to the fell dragon's reach. He doubted Grima would favor him with life a second time, if he failed.

The Grimleal had very little use for weak followers, outside of nourishment for Her. And he was not ready to become meat.

"We can still bide our time… and there are other ways we can arrange for the Emblem to come into our grasp, while the Ylisse Shepherds and sheep carry out the plans." A set of double doors loomed before them, stretched long and spear like into the stones. He rested a hand on the cold iron rings, before pulling one door open.

Beyond them stood a circular room with a high stretching ceiling and ringed with narrow windows. The leftovers of the sunset stained it red, slowly turning black and blue as night swept in. Validar's eyes fell on the pedestal in the center, a silver bowl already set in it, waiting to be filled.

His eyes drifted down to the vial in his fingers, and he sighed as he considered the fresh blood gathered in it.

"I would have preferred Robin's blood… but there may yet be a gain from drawing the Exalt's blood instead." He would have to rely on his own blood link with Robin, instead. The stones seemed to hum around him in anticipation, realizing that a working was about to take place. He turned to Aversa, who still stood at the threshold of the doors.

"Sadly, I must send you on your way; much as I would have use of you, your best plays must be made elsewhere. You have a pegasus with you?"

"Aye. One black as night, perfect for flying under dark." Aversa nodded, ready and willing to serve. A refreshing change, considering the frustration of the diplomatic meeting and Roin's unwillingness to play her own part.

"Good. Head out before the hour is done. You should make good time and reach the capital before they do. And you are clear on what…"

"Slip in quietly. Kill no one, leave no trace that I was there. I understand well enough… and if I cannot fetch you an Emblem, I will settle for a king." She dipped her head low, before turning on her heel and vanishing back down the gullet of the hallway.

Validar's robes swept at the floor, clearing a little dust from the mosaic as he stepped over the tiles. His eyes flickered down, picking out deep, almost black purple tile set into the floor, forming a spiraling dragon, roaring its defiance to the world.

' _A broken world… which only needs to be finished by the proper master.'_

A full moon was rising through the windows and set the bowl to glimmering from its light. Perfect for a ceremony.

Validar approached the bowl, stretching a hand out. The fluid gathered in the bowl was almost black, and rippled as the prince's blood fell from the vial and mingled with it. He began to chant, a dark, muttering echo that made the room vibrate with power.

' _Let the Prince-Exalt try to interfere,'_ Validar thought with the smallest quirk of his lips. _'He will be greeted with quite the surprise.'_

Still murmuring his spell, he drew a dagger from his waist. The blade caught the moonlight once, polished dragon fang mingling with steel in a curved, sharp arc. It cut into his hand perfectly when Validar closed his fist around the blade. His blood went dripping off his hand and carrying his power with it. He let it mingle with the other elements in the bowl, as the moonlight finally stretched just far enough to catch the reflection of silver and liquid. The beam of moonlight caught the spell, acting as a catalyst and messenger, and carrying it off into the night.

Validar shut his eyes as he felt the spell depart, feeling his magic take effect. He let his mind still, searching and waiting for the spell to finally find its target.


	31. Out of the Past

**C** **hapter 31: Out of the Past**

His dreams were stained in red. Red fire wreathed around Chrom, red blood running over his arms-

Except they didn't remain _his_ arms. Under the threads of red running along them, Chrom saw scales twisting out. The touch of blood or fire spun the scales out further across his arms. He desperately tried to tear them away. His fingers tore at the new scales, only to open up new rents as claws grew from the fingertips.

The red dripped down his arms, pooling around his feet, spreading up to his knees, before pulling him down.

Chrom screamed with a twisted voice, crying out for help. None came... but for an instant his voice pierced the haze. The flames lancing through the red dimmed for a heartbeat, and he swore he saw something-

Six points of bright scarlet, richer than everything else pierced his vision, his body. He screamed again, only for a strangled howl to shriek out between his teeth. Blue flames mingled with scarlet as they left his mouth.

 _'If only I could take your heart more than once, and leave it bleeding on the ground.'_ A voice crooned. It was distorted, sighing against his ears and hissing through his mind. _'My own, my love-'_

The six points flared, driving through his eyes and flesh both **.**

 _'MY LOATHED. Instead I must be content with watching you BURN.'_

His half changed hands desperately tried to grasp at something as he fell down, down into the flames and blood-

For an instant, he grasped something in his hands and stared up at them. A crimson jewel glimmered out between his fingers. And upon seeing what he gripped, the voice shrieked rage at him-

Chrom woke with a start, staring up at the tent canvas. A large cot creaked underneath him, once he slowly sat up and remembered where he was. He'd fallen asleep still half dressed, exhausted from the Plegian meetings and the march back to rendezvous with the ships. He'd been waiting for Robin to come to bed as well, hoping a talk might help them both-

"Robin?" Chrom looked around, only to find moonlight streaming in from a half opened tent flap.

She was gone. Chrom pushed himself to his feet, praying that it wasn't far or long to find her, wherever she was.

-o-o-o-

Even on Carrion Isle, there was still a night chorus of crickets. The air itself was clean enough, if curiously dry. Robin took in deep gulps of it, hoping to clear her head... but with poor results. Her thoughts still thrummed in a restless, ceaseless beat.

"Who was she?" Robin spoke into the night. The vision of the Hierophant tugged at her memories. "How could she bear my face... and my name?"

The stars and rising moon gave no answer. Neither did the spell tome Robin clutched to her chest, still holding its secrets locked behind the pages. Above her the night stretched out, chill and empty, utterly still. The moon rose overhead, finally clear of the trees and catching Robin full in its light.

 _"Heed-"_

The word teased the edge of her senses. Robin spun around, trying to find who said it... only to see empty forest and the desolate hill she stood atop. She remained alone.

 _"Heed my call."_ The voice slipped into her head again. All around her, the night sounds became curiously muted... save for a ringing noise growing in her skull, drowning everything else out. And sending bolts of pain behind her eyes.

It nearly drove her to her knees, with how it sunk into her skull. Robin doubled over, clutching at her head and squinting her eyes against the sudden assault. The book fell from her grasp, landing in the ground with a dulled thud.

"It's in... my head!?" She gasped out, eyes watering. The forest blurred together the images wavering back and forth, matching her aching head. All while the noise grew in pitch and pain. "Sh-show yourself-!"

She fought to keep her feet, and she squeaked the words out between her teeth.

 _'What's happening-?'_ she barely managed the thought, before something else silenced her.

 _"Why do you close your heart, Robin."_ Even if it was in her head, she KNEW that voice. Sparks flew in front of her from a spell, and a familiar figure appeared in the spell runes, translucent robes flickering in and out. Her heart throbbed, each pulse making the world around her blur and in and out. Only the robed figure remained remotely clear, the dark violet in his robes swallowing all other colors, while the familiar gold jewelry caught the moonlight and jabbed at her eyes the same way his voice cut into her brain.

"V-Validar..." The forest dimmed away as the vision of him grew more and more solid. His voice slid in between her thoughts, as he looked down his nose at her.

"...So you have truly forgotten." Disappointment tinged his mental voice. "I'd thought it was a clever ruse of yours at first, playing the fool. But your mind is tragically empty... you poor, simple thing."

Her stomach lurched from his words and mental touch. She could FEEL him riffling through her thoughts. Robin tried to scream out, tried to push him back, trying to run from him when that failed-

Trying to do something, ANYTHING against him. But all she could do was wheeze for breath and manage shaky, strained words.

"Y-you were calling me-?" Another jab of pain lanced through her head, and the hand clutching at her temple caught the sensation as well. The back of her hand burned in six, sharp points.

"Augh- get... get out of my mind!" She spat out. In response, a cold laugh echoed through her skull.

"...Such impudence and arrogance. You dare take such a tone with your own father?"

For an instant, the throbbing in her skull and chest stopped. Only the pain in her hand remained. Her knees gave out and she fell to them, still staring up at Validar in disbelief.

And for the second time that day, the world stopped making sense. Blood rushed in her ears, and it felt like she was falling down, down into a vortex of dulled thought. Robin's hand dropped from her head, the pain fading in favor of nausea coiling in her gut. Her mind couldn't work around the concept as she stared into those blood red eyes.

"My... my what?" His eyes narrowed in satisfaction, over the breathless quality of her words. That cold, drowning sensation swept back around her. She felt a strange, dulled smolder pricking at her eyes as she picked out the same, knowing smirk on Validar's face; the same one he'd worn the night he tried to kill Emmeryn. Hot tears ran down her face, pushing fire back into her blood.

"Or at least, you are the child of my own flesh. Yet, there is also sacred blood in you. You were born to serve a far more glorious purpose than acting as a mind for these weak, Shepherd fools."

His eyes flickered down to her hand, and Robin followed them. The six eyed mark burned bright against the pale gray night, a vivid, almost eye searing violet. Robin balled her hand into a fist, trying to dim the glow from her mark somehow. The mark gave blurry pulses, fighting against her and burning six eyed after images into her vision... and she could feel a familiar, painful heat growing in her heart, head, and hand.

"Ah... your blood knows the truth, even if your mind and heart struggles against it. I suspected as much, when Aversa lit the flames and something in the both of you stirred." Robin gasped for breath, and something in her chest stirred. It pressed against her ribs, her muscles, feeling too big to be pushed into a small form like her own. Two thin lines of pain ran down her face, one underneath each eye... and she could still do NOTHING. She could barely draw breath anymore.

"And still you fight. You refuse to open your eyes again. That Naga-blooded wretch has left a poor influence on you, I see. You've picked up his same foolhardy stubbornness-"

"SHUT UP!" The words screamed out of Robin, leaving her throat hoarse. Her body listed to the side from the force of her scream, and the last bit of control she had snuffed out. Her balance and strength vanished, and she crashed into the dirt.

Her hair pooled around her, giving off a dull sheen from the moonlight and taking on a violet color from the brand burning away in her hand.

Gods-

Everything hurt. Her head, her hand-

"Ahh... so we've at last managed to call something up." Her head jerked up at the sound of Validar's voice. Robin's throat closed up; she couldn't even scream anymore. Instead, she was left baring teeth at him as her face twisted into a pained snarl. Flecks of pain stung at her cheeks and neck, as scales took the place of skin. The fire in her blood set her muscles to twitching, and her hands uselessly scuffed at the ground-

Her fingers drew deep cuts into the earth, as something sharp grew out from the tips. Her head didn't just ache from the ringing and voice in it any longer; something pushed from her skull, and the skin parted as two long spurs of bone erupted from her head. They scrapped the ground as well, as her back curled and hunched from the pain. Robin tried to push her hands against the ground, lift herself back up-

But her back wouldn't listen. Instead it burned from broad stripes of pain settling along it. Something ripped its way free from her shoulders, unfurling against the night sky. The shadow of what grew from her back draped over her, a shape she'd only seen once before.

Wings.

"You are a beautiful sight," Validar sighed out. "Now, give in. Open your eyes all the way, Robin. Then I can finally join your strength to the fell dragon."

Her eyes roiled, trying to find something, anything else to focus on than the changes tearing through her body. Or the red gaze fixed on her. For a heartbeat, they fell on something laying next to her in the dirt. The golden symbol burned in her eyes for a moment, and a distant memory of the words pushed a little space into her thoughts.

 _'May this always protect you.'_

She grabbed the breathing room and threw one last thought against him, and felt it rasp off of her tongue.

"N-no. Get- out-"

"Robin!?" Came a new voice. One that sent a stab of pain and comfort through her; that the speaker was there for her... but also saw her in such a state. "GODS! ROBIN!"

-o-o-o-

The forest had gone eerily quiet. The only sound Chrom had was his feet scuffing the ground, and his breath rushing in and out. He kept one hand on Falchion as he walked, scanning the trees for Robin.

It was the Hierophant weighing on her mind, Chrom knew. How could it not?

 _'I shouldn't have fallen asleep without talking to her more.'_ Chrom shook his head. Apparently the exhaustion from the meeting hadn't been enough to lay her out. But where was-

He picked out a voice screaming out words, too rough and raw for him to make them out... but he knew Robin's voice. And he knew the harsh roar behind her words, all too well. Only a moment ago, he'd had the same howl in his own voice, in his dreams.

The forest blurred by him as he charged through it, heedless of what was around him. His eyes tried to play tricks on him, imagining dark shapes in the woods... but none of them were his wife.

Just ahead the trees opened up, and he saw a cloaked figure slumped to the ground. He knew the gold trim to the robes, the three eyes running along the sleeves, and the glint of hair.

"Robin-?" He started to say, only for a harsh, wet ripping sound to kill the words in his mouth. Dark wings unfurled from Robin's back, half formed as the skin clung to her ribs and stretched out. Flames licked off of her back from where they emerged, lighting up the leathery membrane and wing bones with a purple glow. Violet feathers spread along the new flesh, stirring faintly as the person beneath them thrashed her head and whimpered.

"Robin!? GODS, ROBIN!" He ran towards her, right as a faint laugh ghosted over his ears; one in a cold voice, and without pity or remorse. But his eyes stayed fixed to Robin, with her breath coming out in a sob. She lifted her head at his voice, staring at him with glowing, slit iris eyes-

RED eyes. He felt a strange chill move through him bringing up memories of red-stained dreams. But it didn't slow him down. Chrom refused to allow himself pause, with the way Robin's sobs tore at his ears.

Chrom reached out for her-

 _"Fool."_

And pain exploded up through his arm. He pitched forward, joining Robin on the ground. Something lashed at him, but his eyes found nothing but trees.

 _"So you chose to join us, you wretched Naga blooded prince."_ His eyes stretched wide. No one else was there so why... why did he hear a voice teasing at the edges of his senses?

Whatever held onto Robin was digging its claws into him. Chrom writhed, and fire coiled itself up in his chest. It didn't stay bound there for long, and tried to burn its way outwards. An echo of his dream unfolded across his flesh, scales rising to the surface of his skin. His back ached, his eyes blurred...

...And he couldn't reach Robin. He tried to crawl towards her, while his body twisted against him.

-o-o-o-

"Chrom-" Robin wheezed out. Gods help her, what had happened to him?

"So the spell can reach him as well. Good." Validar's voice echoed with a mocking sneer.

 _'Spell-'_ For a moment, just a moment when she saw Chrom, something in the spell had wavered. Validar's hold hadn't felt as strong. She distantly remembered the feeling of contact with Chrom. Skin brushing against skin instead of scales-

She latched onto it and stared only at him. Validar's presence pulled at her mind, demanding her to submit to HIM. Instead she stared at Chrom and managed to squeak out another word.

"Chrom," just a name... but it did something to him as well. Made him raise his head for an instant to her. Chrom's hand darted to his side.

But it wasn't Falchion he drew. Argent glimmered in his hand, like a tiny, second moon cradled in his palm. The light blazed bright, and strand by strand, the spell in her mind frayed under its light.

 _"...Damn you."_ Validar sneered in both of their heads. But his voice had gone fainter, and echoed as though it came from across a great distance. " _Even separate, I see_ _the gemstones still have their power. But don't think this is the end-"_

And just like that, the hold on her vanished. As did the image of Vaidar, snuffed out with the same suddenness of a candle flame. Robin wheezed out her breath and felt her back stretch out. Two new limbs twitched as she rolled onto her side, and stared over at Chrom.

A low groan told her he was still alive. She looked at him through mussed bangs sticking to her forehead, and picked out what had happened to him. Chrom's right arm was a mess of scales, and his cape had burned away to make room for pale wings stretched half out from his back... but he was still in a mostly human shape. They both were. Chrom proved it as he clawed his way over to her, stretching out his unchanged hand to clasp at hers. She desperately squeezed back, focusing more on the feeling of their fingers, rather than the new weight on her head, or tension in her back.

His clawed hand let go of Argent, and the gem rolled between them as Chrom pulled himself up into a sitting position. Robin followed, but ended up leaning against him.

"Are you... are you okay?" Chrom finally asked, and a dry laugh rattled out of Robin's throat. Trust him to only worry about her, and not himself.

"I'm fine-"

"You don't look fine."

"Well, that makes us a match, doesn't it." She looked up as she said that, giving him a second look. Scales ran over one half of his face like pale scar tissue. The eye underneath them burned bright blue, the pupil gone to a cat's eye slit.

All at once, the weight of the changes slammed into her. Her stomach churned, and she choked out a groan.

"Robin? Gods, stay with me... listen to me." His own voice was raspy, throat half changed and trying to get words out. It matched where the scales on his neck rubbed against her cheek. "And... talk to me. Tell me...What happened to you?"

The talons on his changed hand snagged her sleeve, one more reminder on how _fast_ everything had gone wrong.

"V-Validar..." She finally rasped out one name. Her body thrummed in response to the word alone. Robin forced her eyes shut when. something tried to ache and open across her cheeks again. "He- he spoke to me... in my mind."

"I... I think... I may have heard his voice, too. For a second, but nothing more." Chrom's hand tightened on hers, fingers curling in answer to the pain in her voice. They met her hand, palm to palm as he laced his fingers between hers. He didn't hesitate over the talons growing from her finger tips.

"M-most people would be running by now." She choked out.

"Most people don't have a dragon of their own to deal with. It's alright, Robin... I'm not going anywhere." Something about those words steadied her. Her wings furled in a little closer, settling against her shoulders almost like a second cloak, and the heat in her died. It no longer felt like she would burst into flames at any moment.

"But... That's why you changed? Validar worked a spell on you?" She felt a painful lurch in her, as she shook her head. Her head felt a little less heavy, as her thoughts began to run more smoothly. The horns began to shrink back down... but didn't evaporate completely. There was still too much power humming through her for that, Robin knew; it was like trying to still her heartbeat, while it was still pounding away.

"It wasn't him, it was me... reacting to what he said. He- he spoke to me as his daughter."

Chrom's breath froze, his sides going still against her. Robin lifted her head back up to look at him. The blue in his eyes blazed, and all the brighter with how wide they were.

"What!? But how can that-" He shook his head. "Is it true?"

"I... I don't know. But I also don't know it's a lie. There was... gods, there was something between us. Some sort of connection. It could have been by blood." She couldn't fully meet his eyes as she admitted it. It didn't help, knowing that she shared some responsibility for the glow spearing through them. And that she even may have shared blood with the one who cast the spell. "I'm not sure if I want to know the truth about my past anymore."

"Robin," he whispered her name, drawing her thoughts back to the present. One hand left hers, and cupped her face. "Don't forget; you are yourself before you are any man's daughter. That's far more important than anything he claims."

There was a fierceness to his voice, at odds with how his arms shook.

"I... I know that well by now, and thanks to you, Robin."

He couldn't hug her all the way; not with the things still growing from her back and one of Chrom's arms going clumsy from the scales on it. Instead he wound his human arm up to her shoulders, and pulled her tight against him. Robin turned her head into his shoulder.

"Thank you, Chrom." She glanced down at herself, wincing for a moment over the lingering transformation.

"...Don't worry. I've been far, FAR worse than this, remember?" Chrom's words coaxed a dry laugh out of her.

The two went silent for a moment, listening to the others breathing, waiting for the changes to melt away under the light of Argent...

...And yet, nothing happened. At her back, Robin's new limbs twitched, the wings restless and clamoring for a chance to spread and push her up into the waiting sky. The scales on her neck and cheek itched where Robin shook her head, trying to push the urge back down.

With mixed success, given how her shoulders still trembled. Chrom shivered as well, mirroring her.

"Robin, I... I can't change back." His arms tightened around her, tension shuddering through him. Robin tried to focus her attention on the gemstone, her fingers reaching out to bring it up in front of both of them. Her form stayed stable all through it. Not tilting to anything savage... but not back to human either, no matter how hard she concentrated. Her body felt like a single, tensed muscle.

Still waiting for something.

"I don't think we're out of trouble yet-" Robin whispered.

"RISEN!"

A shout cut her words off. She and Chrom both bolted to their feet. A sentry alert. Down the hill, they heard the camp jolt itself into wakefulness, as a cry went up from the tents.

Robin lifted her head all the way, placing a hand on Chrom's shoulder for support. She felt her irises expand, and the darkness fell away from the forest and the camp. As clear as daylight, she saw the Risen circling the camp.

"...They have us surrounded." She murmured out. Chrom raised his head to mirror her, and she had the feeling he was using his own altered eyes. "But how they made a stealthy approach, I don't know."

"...That's not like the Risen I know. I've only seen them act in formation once before, when Emm..." Under her hand, she felt a jolt of energy. When her fingers parted, she saw the brand glowing on his shoulder, a painful, brilliant blue in the night.

She wasn't the only one pushed to her limits. Dimly, Robin remembered the fire at the cathedral hall, and how it had taxed Chrom just as much.

"Can you fight?" Was all he said.

Robin looked down at her half changed hands. The glow from their brands highlighted the razor edges on her new claws. But her fingers still flexed limberly when she moved them.

"I-I can..." Yet hesitation closed on her words. The fire in her blood was almost too eager to fight.

"Be steady, Robin. I won't leave your side. We won't lose to... anything." Robin scooped up the spell book as she listened to him, and nodded. They turned their focus to the brewing fight, and as one began to step forward-

But the wings in her back weren't content with that, fanning open. And Chrom's were spreading open too. Robin's wings opened in full, fanning the air and her legs tensing to spring.

"Chrom-"

"I-I know. And I meant that I won't leave your side. Remember that I've flown before." Chrom was true to his words, ready to leap up.

Their reprieve was well and truly at an end now, and the dragons stirred into full wakefulness. Robin shut her eyes, and prepared to lunge for the sky.

There would be time to worry over Validar, and everything when there wasn't about to be blood on the wind.


	32. Sacred and Blooded

**Chapter 32: Sacred and Blooded**

 _'It's a good thing the mask is gone after all; I wouldn't be able to see anything otherwise.'_ A full moon overhead did nothing to dispel the gloom of the island. Marth stretched her eyes as wide as they would go, trying to pick up the trail of the Shepherds.

She'd been hard pressed to keep up with them; stowing away on board a ship wasn't the easiest thing, particularly since few boats frequented Carrion Isle. And Marth could imagine why, going by the chill building up her back. It made her arms shudder where she pushed her way through the forest.

Finally, her eyes locked on a set of tents, just through the branches and up one of the hills. Marth breathed out a sigh as she picked out rows and rows of white canvas, all well ordered-

"SHUT UP!" The voice screamed through the trees, and dried her mouth with fear in record time. Marth yanked her head in the direction of the voice, threading her way through the trees as she desperately tried to reach the owner.

It sounded like Robin... almost. If a bestial howl had been shoved into her voice. The pain behind it shoved panic in between her lungs.

Once again, she felt like she was caught in a horrible dream. Her feet wouldn't move fast enough, and she was sure the voice was on the edge of humanity. She'd only seen that once before, and had prayed it wouldn't happen ever again. Just like with Emmeryn, it felt like the gods had gone deaf to her pleas and her cause.

 _'What drove her to scream? What's wrong!?'_

Her own feet carried her towards the cry, and she drew Falchion in a smooth motion-

Just in time, when a dark shape loomed up in front of her. Its head twisted to face her with a pop and snap of bones she'd grown all too used to hearing... and she saw a familiar red glow to the eyes. Marth bit back a curse and lashed out with the blade. It danced out in an arc of blue silver, and the Risen was suddenly short one head. She heard the snap of underbrush around her, and realized it wasn't a solitary Risen. Her eyes picked out more shapes in the woods.

 _'Oh gods... how many are there?'_ Before she could think twice, Falchion was back in its sheath and she went swarming up one of the trees. When she looked back down, she picked out shadowy forms moving through the branches... but she wasn't their target. All of their focus was on the camp at the hill.

Where the Shepherds were, perhaps blind to the threat creeping up the slopes.

And she couldn't hide and do nothing.

"RISEN!" Marth screamed at the top of her lungs, before yanking herself to the side as an arrow tried to find where her head was. She prayed she was loud enough to alert the camp, in exchange for revealing herself to the Risen.

A flurry of activity and shouts from the camp gave Marth her answer. She threw herself to another tree, and caught glimpses of the Shepherds rallying. A glint of armor and the stamping of horses told her that Frederick and Sumia were both mounting up at the edge of the camp. Closer to the main tents, Lissa was passing weapons to Vaike and Lon'qu, while Maribelle was riding alongside Libra and readying a spell tome. On the crest of the hill, Gaius stood with Tharja, testing the pull of a bowstring as Virion rushed to hand the thief a quiver of arrows. Nearby, Cherche and Panne stood on guard; the Taguel was already changed, her bright eyes shining pink as she scanned the forest for numbers. Marth caught echoes of voices, directing people where to fight-

But through all of it, she couldn't spot or hear Chrom or Robin. A chill moved through her as no white cape or black and violet cloak materialized in the chaos.

 _'Where-?'_ That was all she got from that thought, before another arrow hissed up through the branches. This one came so close she almost felt the fletching lash her cheek. Marth braced herself against the tree branch, flattening herself against the trunk to make for a smaller target. Below, a Risen stared up at her with a baleful, red eye through a sniper's helm. It drew back on the bow again, and Marth threw herself back as another arrow tried to pierce her. She fell backwards, crashing against pine branches. The needles lashed at her arms and face, until a strong branch broke her fall. Another archer joined the first, and Marth twisted and rolled along the branch, desperately trying to avoid the arrows.

A shout went up from the hill camp right when Marth twisted to the side.

"RIDE FOR THE BRIDGE! REMEMBER THE PLANS!" The Shepherds hadn't been caught completely flat footed, at least. And in a way she was still helping the Shepherds, since there were two less archers to concern themselves with.

"But where is mothe-" she whispered, right as something dark moved against the stars overhead. Marth's eyes yanked up towards it, and a second shape joined the first. At first she thought they were wyverns, already in the sky.

 _'No wyvern moves like that!'_ The rest of her thoughts screamed. She saw one of the fliers turn hard in the air, feet stretched out that didn't end in claws.

The bottom dropped out of her stomach when she saw Robin's face lit up by the moon. Her features were twisted into a snarl, pushing her further into the air.

And if Robin was in the air, that meant-

Chrom was there as well. And he was the second shape in the sky. Her stomach turned to knots as she saw both of them cutting through the air on newly grown wings. How they were holding to that half shape, she didn't know.

 _'Gods help them, please-'_ She whispered the thought out, stretching an arm to them like she could call them out of the sky and back to full human forms-

An arrow pierced her shoulder, knocking her clear out of the trees. She plummeted through the branches, needles again lashing at her face. For an instant she glimpsed the Shepherds charging down the slope and into the ravine. Then the ground rushed up to meet her, and drove the breath from Marth's lungs.

 _'Get up, get up!'_ She screamed. Her shoulder screamed right back when she pushed herself off the ground... but her feet still listened. They knew she'd be dealing with a lot more arrows if she didn't move, and move fast.

Marth's eyes settled on the Risen around her... fewer than she expected. There were the two archers to keep her pinned down, and a swordsman was moving in for close, messy work. Blood welled up from where the arrow found its mark, and with a lurch Marth realized it was her right shoulder that was bleeding.

The wound sunk into her sword arm in an ugly gouge. The drops of blood ran down her arm and stuck to her fingers, before spattering on the forest floor. Turning the battle a little more red.

-o-o-o-

Robin's head whipped about, eyes roiling between the open skies, and the song of steel drifting up beneath. The camp fires burned as an orange mirror to the stars overhead... and pushed another echoing spark into her own pulse.

In the far corners of her mind, a memory tried to stir of a night flight she'd taken so many years ago, on pegasus-back.

Chrom may have remembered it too; his arm was stretched out to her hand, and served to pull her up where her wing beats faltered. There was something trying to stick in her bones, some human half scared of the air, and what was washing over her body.

There was a cry somewhere below; a call to charge. It pulled her eyes back down, setting her gaze on one thing.

The ground was a long, long way from them. The troop movements could be covered with her hand. The land itself was a patchwork of gray trenches and dark, choked pine forests. And there were even darker shadows moving between those trees.

Dimly, she remembered the lay of the land. They'd chosen to camp on a hill leading into a valley, with a forest at their backs. To either side the land had swooped up, leaving them with a long narrow trench of a valley, flanked by ridges.

A position that could be fortified against a small attack. But cutting one's way out through large numbers was another matter. A sickness crawled from the back of Robin's throat and tried to settle between her lungs. The Shepherds formed a clump of bright dots reflecting the moonlight, but seemed hopelessly outnumbered.

They'd be cut down, or overrun in seconds.

 _'Only if you stay bound to the ground, and terrified of moving upward.'_ The thought combed through her mind, sending satisfied tremors out to her limbs. Even the newly grown ones, which beat at the air with an eager energy.

The shock and fatigue was shed, left on the hilltop. And instead, she allowed her blood to run hot and chase any high altitude chill from her limbs. A snap of teeth showed beneath her lips for an instant, and she allowed it. It aided in sharpening her senses.

She swore for an instant she heard something; some whisper of a pained cry teasing her ears, and the faint tang of blood washing up from the trees. Somewhere far below. But then just as fast, it faded from her senses.

But she could still see Risen in plenty. And all so well arrayed as perfect targets.

There they were. Broken things that didn't belong in their camp, or on their borders. And should have stayed dead and stuck in the past.

Robin drew her hand back, fingers curling to better allow electricity to arc and jump from tem. Readying the first of many thunder spells.

She folded her wings and dove, allowing gravity to take a brief hold of her, and the wind to whip her hair out past her face. Robin squinted her eyes against the cut of the air, dropping, counting off the seconds before she'd hit the ground. One breath away, and she snapped her wings back out. An echoing snap of flesh and rush of displaced air mirrored Chrom's approach. One breath, one reach behind her.

The Shepherds below were pointing at them. Robin dimly realized that. But they weren't the focus of her aim and eyes. Not what made her spell tome crackle in anticipation of the first strike.

The Thoron magic screamed from her fingertips like some strange and eager hunting hawk, and turned night to day.

-o-o-o-

Marth staggered drunkenly, facing the Risen.

How was she going to draw Falchion? The bowstrings creaked around her, while the swordsman rushed her with heavy, shuffling steps. The Risen moved swiftly, something extra driving their actions. Like a distant puppet master was pushing the corpses on.

But wasn't fully in control of them. Or wasn't quite the tactician Robin was, as the Risen didn't fully coordinate their attacks. She could hear the stutter of their movements, feel it in her pulse that they weren't perfectly in synchronization.

If only she could have a better glimpse of what they were doing-

And in a breath, she saw the scene perfectly, thanks to a bolt of magic lighting the sky overhead. It painted the entire forest in bright detail, giving her room to see and act.

She didn't dodge back or to the side, instead plunging in and meeting him shoulder to shoulder. Her left shoulder started to smart, but she drove the Risen into the path of the arrows. The arrows pierced the swordsman instead of her, prompting a hiss from the Risen. She wrenched the sword from his grip, pivoting and slicing the bowstrings of one archer, before burying the blade in the neck of the other.

Overhead another lightning spell lit the sky, and her blood felt like it sparked in response. Adrenaline coursed through her now, and she found the strength to yank Falchion free from the scabbard, and tear open the last of the Risen.

All three of them were down, and turning to mist. As the purple smoke rose off their bodies, Marth emptied a vulnerary into her palm. She slapped the hand and solution to her shoulder gritting her teeth to help her stagger towards a break in the trees.

 _'Where are they-?'_ Her heart wrenched, terrified she'd find nothing human in the skies.

Instead, she saw two figures diving through the air... but still closer to human than dragons. She saw how close together they were, and saw something shining like a star in Chrom's grip. Marth leaned against the closest tree, holding her breath as they fell from the sky, splitting apart...

And landing in the ravine, twisting apart and fanning their wings just in time to keep the landing from turning into a crash.

Her shoulder throbbed, the muscles pushing the arrow out and the wound began to scab over. Marth let the pain wash over her, and spur her into a run as she stuck to the edge of the forest. She had to catch them now, make sure nothing else happened to them or twisted them any further. She knew there was a battle happening all around her, but her eyes remained fixed on the figures cutting through the Risen. They may have been on the ground now, but she was sure she could see their feet starting to lift from the ground.

Their wings spread out behind them like second cloaks, and getting closer she could make out scales shimmering over their skin. Blades tried to strike them, only to be turned away in a shower of sparks.

She remembered the arena of Ferox, and the wrenching feeling in her hands. Those same scales still held against any edge brought against them.

A feather drifted in front of her vision, black. Another joined it, followed by another as a throng of crows began to gather in front of Robin and Chrom. Chrom simply charged them with his blade-

"WOAH, no killing me please!" A voice blurted out. Marth's eyes fixed on a newcomer, his hair a pale white. His robes almost looked like a match for Robin's. Marth could recall faint memories of him... and prayed that as weird as he could be, that he didn't die here and now.

Mercifully, Chrom's claws buried in the ground instead of the mage's neck. The mage simply looked at them both with bright, curious eyes, completely uncaring about how close of a call he'd just had.

"Wow, you two really are something else. I see why that dark mage of yours follows you around so much!" He laughed out. "There's nothing dull with you! Got room for another in your group?"

"...Step aside." She just heard Chrom. "We- we have to finish this-"

"Oh, you mean you want to kill him? The one on the bridge? Yeah odds are you kill him and you sever the main spell component. I thought everyone knew that, though."

"Wait-!" Marth started, but in another second they were both gone, churning their way through the air to where the Risen was standing on the bridge. Marth put on an extra burst of speed, trying to catch them.

The best she could manage was keeping them in her sights. The two cut across the air, and plunged at the bridge crossing the battlefield. Atop it was an armored figure, with a familiar red shine in his eyes. And those eyes didn't pause or hesitate over the two fighters diving at it. The wings on Chrom and Robin flared out with a snap of air, their feet barely skimming the ground in a charge.

Chrom dodged around the Risen's axe. The lack of Falchion didn't bother him, as he lashed out with a clawed hand and wrenched the axe loose, along with a few fingers. She thought he was going to tear the Risen's throat open right there-

But instead he dropped away. The gem in his free hand glimmered bright through his fingers, and he stood next to Robin. Both of them stood a little taller than before... and Marth saw the scales beginning to melt away from them.

A breeze kicked up behind Robin as glowing sigils looped around her. Her wings fanned out to either side, her hair dancing in the wind with the sparks arcing around her. A new book was in her hands. She glanced down at it, and Marth felt her own eyes get drawn to the symbol in the book-

 _'I've seen that before.'_ She realized, a memory trying to pry itself loose in her mind. Memories of reading through a book much like it, under a patient and watchful eye-

"THORON!" Robin shouted at the top of her lungs and shattered the memory. The spell shot through the Risen chief, neatly skewering his heart and lungs all in one motion. It fell to the bridge stones, dead.

And just like that, the fight went out of the other Risen. They either fell where they stood, or turned to mist, mingling with a slowly brightening sky.

 _'Dawn?'_ Marth realized, breathing out a sigh of relief.

She'd spooked too easily, she scolded herself. Chrom and Robin had handled themselves just fine. Even now, she could see Chrom turning to Robin with a relieved smile; the wildness was completely out of his eyes as he held up the silver gemstone. Under its light, the last of their transformations dissolved away like mist under morning light.

"We did it. Gods, but that was a close-"

Robin saw it the same instant Marth did. One last Risen, blood red cape swirling around it. It appeared out of the gloom, forming up from a spell. It held a blade in its hands, leveled at Chrom's throat. Robin's movements were slow, drained from her transformation. Chrom as well, as his eyes widened with no chance of reacting in time-

"FATHER, NO!" Marth's voice screamed out, as she threw herself forward. Time slowed down as she brought Falchion up, half falling into the path of the blade as she shoved herself between it and Chrom. She turned it just in time, her hands aching from the force of the blow-

And just like that, the sun broke from the horizon, and the last bit of spell holding the Risen together broke apart.

She collapsed to the ground, limp with relief. He was safe. They were BOTH safe and human, thanks the gods-

"Marth!? Wait... did you just call me 'father?'"

She looked up to see them staring down at her, and she finally realized what had slipped out of her mouth. Chrom's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Robin simply had a dazed expression as her brain tried to churn out an answer that made sense.

"Oh... oh gods." She groaned out. Suddenly her limbs had gone to lead... and she felt so very, very tired. "Perhaps... could we speak privately?"


	33. Heirs To The Dragon

**Chapter 33: Heirs To The Dragon**

 **((Author's Note: I'll note here that I do write Grima with female pronouns... for no particular reason other than Robin is female, so why not. This said, thank you all for your patience as I work through these chapters and gradually post them.))**

* * *

Chrom felt the beginnings of sunlight on his skin, warming his flesh where dawn crept over the tree tops. A stream bubbled nearby, the sound gentle in his ears after a night of ringing steel and roaring blood in his head.

And standing before him was a familiar enigma, blue hair falling over her face. She'd lead him here, eyes fixed to the ground the entire time. Even now, she couldn't fully meet his gaze.

"I don't even know where to begin." she murmured out.

"I know your name isn't Marth, for starters." He offered. "Not truly. But I've also nothing better to call you... and I won't ask anything of you, if you don't want to reveal it. You should know that I owe you a debt beyond repaying."

Yet the words didn't cause her to meet his gaze. Instead she shook her head back and forth, rejecting his offer.

"That is kind of you, but... I think I would prefer that you know the truth." Something settled across her shoulders... or perhaps more aptly, something was lifted from her shoulders. Some invisible weight that she'd been carrying for Gods only knew how long. She said nothing, only raised her head and looked him straight in the eyes. The blue bobbed in his vision, lifting and falling in time to the steps that brought her closer to him.

He noticed just then how one of her eyes was a shade lighter than the other. It was a curious quality he'd never noticed before. In the back of his mind, Chrom's memories reminded him that this stranger had never really met him eye to eye for long. Never given Chrom a chance to notice. And more than just the color difference, he could pick out something else; a strange mark in the iris-

The teardrop shape encircling her pupil held Chrom still. He knew that shape.

"That's the... the Brand of the Exalt..." he breathed out in disbelief.

His shoulder gave a twitch, the half scarred Brand on it almost calling out to the other mark. His breath froze up, his thoughts yanked far away from the island and back to Ylisstol. Back to a chamber where a piece of his heart had been left, and a daughter with the same Brand in her own eye.

"Lucina..." he whispered at last. The world did a strange spin around him, with Lucina and the sword at her side being the only constant.

' _Lucina.'_ The name echoed in his head, making his balance wobble. It was an impossible thought; it couldn't possibly be real, that this was his daughter. And yet the way her eyes teared up, the way a shudder moved through her at the sound of her own name-

' _Her REAL name.'_

It suddenly didn't seem quite so impossible after all.

"Y-you know me… Father-" Lucina's words and breath all hitched. Her head dipped and her shoulders hunched, the motion jarring the tears loose so they ran down her face. Reflex tugged his hand up to her face, and his fingers hesitated for only a moment before wiping a few of the tears away. More soaked into the fabric of his gloves.

"It's alright," he tried to say, before Lucina slumped against him, wracked with sobs. He couldn't bring himself to speak again, not until she got the worst of it out. It could have been seconds, minutes, even hours before her crying subsided, and she raised her head again.

"Better now, Lucina?"

"Y-yes. Thank you… Father…" the name whispered out hoarse in her throat, like she was unused to saying it.

Then again, he was unused to hearing it, so perhaps that meant they were on even ground.

"Is… everything alright here?" Came a new voice. Chrom raised his head to see Robin, watching them from a few steps away. "I apologize for intruding… but I've been unable to work out WHAT exactly was going on. And now I find her crying into your shoulder, and,"

Robin shook her head.

"I'd like to understand what the answer to all of this is, if I can. And if you're willing to tell me." Lucina had gone still next to him, and he was certain there was a lump in her throat. She wasn't able to summon up any words just then, leaving him to speak.

"I think Robin has a right to know, Lucina."

It wasn't very often he saw his wife dumbstruck. It was more than a little bewildering, seeing her eyes stretch wide, her mouth hang open, and nothing come out.

' _Well, it means we're all in the same spot, at the very least.'_

"Lucina-?" Robin choked out, staring at the girl. The fingers on her hand trembled as she stretched out- almost touching Lucina's cheek but not quite. She was almost a mirror for Chrom in the way her expressions and gestures all played out. Confusion leaving her pale, doubt furrowing her eyebrows, and a strange hope trying to lift the corners of her lips.

And Lucina read those emotions and stepped a little closer, lifting her head so Robin could see the brand in her eye.

"It's exactly the same," Robin's words couldn't rise above a whisper. "But... but how is this possible? What's happened to our little girl-?"

"Safe, I promise." Lucina answered, her own voice hushed. It seemed that carrying the weight of a secret for so long made it hard to voice it too loudly. "I'm... I'm not exactly the same Lucina. I come from a different time. That's why I'm here; to change the future for the better."

"Ah, gods help me, you're right." Robin's free hand tapped her head, in a way Chrom was familiar with. It was her usual gesture for admonishing herself when she wasn't as fast on the uptake as she preferred. "You knew what would happen to Emmeryn, you were there to guide Chrom and me at our lowest- have you been watching over us all this time? Trying to change the way events play out?"

"Astute as ever," Lucina said, a brief smile tracing across her features. But it vanished in a heartbeat, leaving a somber expression. "I... I have to change things for the better. Because if I don't, you and father…"

She trailed off, pain flashing across her eyes.

"...What is it?" Chrom let his words, hushed as they were, guide him forward. He paused next to both of them. "What happens to us?"

"...You die. Die and vanish... all of you." Lucina looked over her shoulder, back to where the other Shepherds were encamped, all of them recovering from the last skirmish. Even with the sun warming their skin, Chrom felt a cold bolt travel through him.

"Grima... the fell dragon. She is the undoing of the world, and her roar spells the end of humanity. She's no more a myth than Naga, or... or the blood of dragons." Lucina's eyes traveled over both of their scars, but she refused to let that stop her words. "She finally wakes after thousands of years, and no one can stand against her. Both of you vanished just before she appeared."

Lucina's words went numb at the end of her explanation. A haunted look traced across her face… and yet for all of that, she wasn't done; evidenced by the way she took in another deep breath and continued, before Chrom could do more than think of resting a hand on her.

"Naga thought this might happen one day, and she left a spell in place. It sent me to the past. And now that I finally made it here, I- I have to save you. I have to change the future for the better."

An edge of finality crept into her voice.

"Though… I begin to wonder if I can or… or if I should do this alone." She raised her eyes enough to watch them. "I… wasn't the only one to attempt to make this journey into the past. But I've seen no one else, and now-"

"Now… I think you should reconsider, about undertaking this task on your own." Robin murmured. "I said before, that if someone like me can find a place to belong among the Shepherds, you could as well. I believe that now, more than ever. And I don't think you should face any of this by yourself."

Their daughter's breath shuddered out at that. "Do you really-?" She seemed almost hesitant to believe the words.

So Chrom elected to add a few more. And his hand finally found a resting spot on Lucina's shoulder.

"I've already learned how impossible it can be, to shoulder something by yourself. It's easier if you trust others to share the burden." Chrom glanced to his own scarred shoulder, and knew Lucina was following his line of sight. "Besides… I also learned long ago that you won't get far, arguing with Robin. Or Lissa for that matter; and if you leave, I can promise you that at least one person in this family will go out and bring you back."

A laugh startled out of Lucina at that. She dipped her head in acceptance, at last relaxing under his hand.

"Then… then I suppose I should remain, after all. Thank you, m-my lady, Robin."

Robin's mouth quirked up at that, caught between amused and exasperated.

"You're worried about calling me mother?"

"I was worried that you might mind. I'm not..." Robin shook her head at that, smile still in place and becoming warmer.

"Of course not! You ARE still my daughter. And believe me... I could not be prouder of you, after tonight. Nor any happier to see you." And Robin must have predicted or seen signs of Lucina's relief, as she stepped in closer so Lucina could lean on her shoulder.

"I... I missed you so much. Mother. Father. More than I can ever say."

-o-o-o-

They didn't linger long in camp; even with the rising of the sun, none in their company seemed eager to wait in an area that had been saturated by Risen. Not that Robin blamed them; every shock she'd experienced didn't dull her caution by much, and she found herself glancing over her shoulder every other moment.

Though... there was also the fact that her daughter now shadowed her steps. And Robin's eyes were constantly on her, making sure she was safe, and that she wouldn't evaporate if she took her eyes off her for too long.

There was no doubt in her mind that this was her daughter. Cast through time, and older than Robin had first been able to imagine... but the truth was there, in her eyes, in her hair, in the way she held herself the same way Chrom did, with the unconscious presence and courage that came with being a great lord.

Now that she knew, Robin found herself wondering how and why it had taken her so long to realize what should have been so obvious. Around them, the camp activity flickered like dry and restless leaves in a breeze. Forming a background noise to where Robin moved, stepping into a tent to gather her own equipment. Chrom was wrapping the Emblem in a spare cloak, to carry close with them on the return journey.

Lucina's eyes rested on the Emblem as well, for an instant. Taking in the golden glimmer before Chrom wrapped it in layers of white. She was hesitating at the flap of their tent, unsure for a moment. Until Robin motioned for her to step inside, and her daughter followed; out of range of eyes, for a moment.

 _'Plenty of eyes. Plenty of news and stories circulating through the camp and Shepherds.'_

Maybe it was just that everyone in camp was short on sleep, but they took the revelation of Marth being a future Lucina surprisingly well. That didn't change that she was the topic of what little conversation flowed through camp.

Beyond the tent canvas, Robin could pick out the Shepherd's voices.

"Could ride with you lot for a damn decade, and I'd still see something that surprises me." Sully moved among a set of stamping hooves, doubtless tying suppose to saddles.

"Good for you on being happy about this." Tharja's voice drawled. "I'm more worried about that girl claiming to be Robin's child. And that farce of a dark mage showing up-"

"Relax, Sunshine. You're still everyone's favorite gloomy magic cloud."

"...Thanks, thief. I see you're still volunteering for hex target practice. I'm going to need to have my skills sharp, if it's true we have some massive dark dragon to worry about. Usually fortelling death and pain is my specialty. It's weird to have someone else show up and do it... even if I owe her for saving our necks once, before."

"HAH! That dragon only managed to kill us by surprise. Now that the Vaike knows she's out there, Grima had better watch out." There was a sound of Vaike thumping a fist against his chest to drive the point home.

"...I suppose I should be glad, for the vote of confidence." By contrast, Lucina's voice was so close Robin almost jumped from it. "No one's suggesting I've lied, or I'm working at cross purposes to the Shepherds and using this as a ploy to get closer. Even Frederick seems to believe me."

"Frederick WAS there, for your first daring rescue." Robin turned to Lucina. "And he's had enough time to adapt to me being here and not a threat, that I think he's ready to exchange that same grace to other people."

' _Though Lissa helped with that too,'_ Robin reflected. _'She DID see Lucina appear in the sky, and come to her rescue. And her word carries a lot of weight.'_

"Mother...?" The voice at her shoulder still hesitated over calling her by that name. "If I may... can I inquire why you were... were..."

"Flying around on a second pair of limbs?" Robin finished the question. At Lucina's nod, she found herself easing into the story of what all had happened. Chrom filled in details where he needed to, and by the time they were finished, the entire camp was packed and ready.

"So now, we find ourselves making a retreat..." Robin ended. "And waiting to see if Validar stays to his word on those ships. I'm beginning to worry everything was a ploy of his-"

"Validar will." Lucina was confident in that answer. "I remember that, from my own time. His mind may work in twisted ways... but he has an equal motive with addressing Valm's threat. And I can assure that there is a threat from them; they make landfall on Ylisse and Ferox, if left alone."

Chrom lowered his head at that. Robin caught a murmur of "...So it was the right decision to make. Even if it still sounds like something he would do."

"Lucina... what else do you know about your grandfather?" Robin found herself asking, before she could think twice. Lucina stood a painful arm's length from both of them as they marched for the shore, but answered readily enough.

"In all honesty, I held neither of them in high regard." She answered without hesitation. "You and Father didn't care for either of them, and so I never had much interest in them as well. But... I did know, or at least heard rumors about the high priest of Plegia having ties to my mother."

Lucina shook her head. "But... it didn't matter to me. Maybe he was tied to us by blood, but he wasn't family. Not to me. What mattered... what continues to matter, is my parents."

Lucina paused for a moment, and nervously sidled a bit closer to them both. Close enough that Robin could reach out and give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

For her part, Lucina stared down at Robin's hand, tilting her head back and forth at the violet Brand.

"Though on the subject of bloodlines... I didn't fully believe it at first. I thought saying you fought like a dragon was just meant to be symbolic. But then Plegia happened-"

"And you saved us there, too. You've gotten very good at that." Chrom's smile didn't meet his eyes all the way. The knowledge of what could happen to him, to their entire family must have been twisting up inside of him. In that, he and Robin were alike.

And for the moment, plenty rested on their heads. Enough that when they reached the ships, the best they could do was simply stay in the others company, and know they were still alive, for now.

-o-o-o-

 _Robin s_ _hifted in her sleep, half aware that she rested back in Ylisse. Far from Validar's influence... but her head didn't remember or dwell on much more, busy with a dream bubbling up in her mind and drawing her in._

 _The creaking of the_ _bedroom windows_ _was replaced by a rickety cart moving down a dusty road. Robin found herself perched on the driver's seat, her eyes narrowed as she looked at a book in front of her._

 _She was so focused on it, she didn't notice how she was... smaller than before. Her hands struggled to hold the book, and no matter how much she focused on it, the writing only looked like squiggles of lines. A hand, so much larger than her own traced around her own small shoulders, pulling her close._

 _"Robin," a voice teased at her hearing. She lifted her head and found herself staring up at a woman. The glare of the sun blurred her features, but Robin could pick out strands of hair... the same color as her own. "Careful. It's all well and good to want to read, but I don't want you falling from the cart. You'll learn well enough, soon."_

 _"Ok..." her voice peeped out, also smaller and lighter than before. "But I want to know how to read... I want to be like you!" She added. "I want to be just as smart, just as good with a sword, and shoot lightning from my fingers!"_

 _The figure next to her laughed, a gentle mix of surprise and affection, as the hand went up to ruffle her hair._

 _"In time I'll teach you all I know. But... there's no need for you to be like me. I just want you to be..." The laugh dulled out, and for a moment Robin picked out eyes in the face above her. They had a wary light in them, and she could see tired lines at the edges. So at odds with the smile she wore. "...Just be Robin. That's all you have to be."_

 _"Ok..." She murmured in agreement. The hands helped her close the book, and her eyes fell on a golden bolt on the surface. "Ok, mom."_

The dream cut out, leaving Robin gasping for breath and staring at the ceiling.

Robin stumbled out of the bed, tugging at the sheets and throwing them aside. Her elbow hit a table as she cast around inside the room. She didn't even register the pain as anything more than a throb.

Instead she lurched to where their weapons were kept on hand. Her hands grabbed for the book, while she desperately tried to find a light for the candles.

 _'Let me see, please let me see-'_ the candles burst into full light, as if they picked out the urgency in Robin's thoughts. The air rippled with magic for an instant… but since it only aided her instead of hindering her, Robin paid it no mind.

"Robin-?" Chrom's voice drifted up from the bed, as she lifted the book in trembling hands. But she didn't turn to him just yet; not with the tome finally in her grip. She somehow got the cover open, and stared again at the page.

 _'May this always protect you.'_ The script was gentle and flowing, so like the hands that had rested on her head in the dream.

How could she forget, when it was one of the first things she learned to read?

She sank back into the bed, as the shake moved from her hands and up into her back.

"Robin?" Chrom had lost the sleepiness in his voice, replaced with concern.

"Chrom... I know my mother now. I remember." Her voice came out husky and shaky, like if she spoke too loud she'd lose the memory as quickly as it came. Silence greeted her words, save for Chrom sucking in his breath.

Chrom lifted himself up from the cot, resting a hand against her shoulder. With the way he moved, fatigue had been pushed out of his hands. His grip squeezed at her shoulder, and drew out more words. "At least, I can remember pieces of it. I think something in Validar's spell jolted something loose. I know that we traveled, but... I'm not certain WHY. Just that we were always on the road. Validar… if he spoke the truth, he was never there. I don't remember him at all."

She lifted fingers to her forehead, trying to coax out the memory. She saw flashes of a woman in robes much like hers, always with an open blue sky overhead. More images flooded in, as she saw the same woman with a gentle smile, her hands holding a book as Robin tried to read from it-

Just like in her dream. And with it came a name, said by the townspeople they visited.

"M…Maela." Robin shivered into Chrom's shoulders. "Her name is Maela. And I…" She slumped against him. "I have… parents."

"Other than…" Chrom's voice paused, his grip tightening on her back and clearly hesitant to bring it up.

"Y-yes. Other than Validar. And when I go through my memories I don't remember him at all. I don't know WHY he's missing, but I know he wasn't there. I don't..." Her hands were balling into fists, and she forced them to relax. "I don't feel any love for him when I think back. But... the woman in my dreams, I felt warmth."

Her hand drifted up to touch her chest. Was it just left over emotion seeping in from her encounter with Lucina? Maybe it had colored her half memories and dreams.

 _'But even so...'_

"Chrom... I need to go find her. We have time while we mobilize the troops, and I... I remember," she drew a shuddering breath as one last memory drifted to her mind. Of something years later, where she found herself traveling along a path in green meadows, with a destination in mind... before finding herself flat on her back and staring up at Chrom.

Finally she knew what she was doing in that field, before she passed out. "And I think I know where she is."

-o-o-o-

"We won't be gone for long," Chrom assured Frederick. The knight still watched them carefully, eyes darting between him and where Robin traced her hands over the weapons in supply. "Just a visit to the town to try and gather some information."

Despite his words, Frederick still had a cautious look on his face. Chrom bit back a sigh.

"We want to keep a low profile if we can; just myself and Robin, lightly armed would be ideal." He nodded to his wife, humming in the back of her throat as she scanned the weapons again. She didn't have all of her focus on the conversation, and Chrom found he couldn't blame her very much. Having so many revelations about one's past would be enough to distract anyone, and it was amazing her focus had lasted this long.

"Would… you permit me to accompany you, at the very least?" Frederick finally asked. "I realize we are in Ylisse's territory, but the idea of no escort at all-"

"…You're both still spooked over the Risen assassin." Chrom finished the thought. "…Alright, alright. I… can understand some of the concern."

And he intended to keep his record at snapping at Frederick to a minimum. The passage of time hadn't dulled his regret from that once incident. "Then… perhaps I can suggest a middle ground? Take Sumia with you, and a few of the others; you can travel separately from us, but still keep an eye out for trouble. Would that be acceptable?"

"…I believe I could accept that." Frederick finally allowed. And it seemed Chrom wasn't the only one trying to be more flexible. "Allow me a moment to gather the others. I believe Donnel understands the lay of the countryside, and Sumia would enjoy exercising the new pegasus. We shall shadow you, but do so unobtrusively."

' _I get the feeling Robin wouldn't even notice if you were being obvious.'_ She still hadn't turned back from the weapons, even when Frederick left the room. In fact, the way her hand paused over one of the racks was enough to furrow his brow.

"…Robin?" She didn't respond to her name either, prompting him to step up beside her. Their shoulders brushed together, finally breaking Robin out of whatever reverie she was in. Chrom glimpsed her hand lingering over the side arms, where javelins and hand axes were hung… and a handful of daggers. One in particular caught the wane sunlight through the window, gleaming gold and scarlet.

"I… Sorry, what were we saying?" She managed at last.

"Just that we should gather our equipment, in preparation." He supplied. And something about his words made her fingers close around the dagger and tie it to her side.

"Of… of course. And between this and the Thoron tome, I should be prepared."

-o-o-o-

A bustling town square greeted their eyes, buildings reaching up tall and proud. No trace of soot from bandit raids or dragon flame touched the roofs and walls, now.

"Wow, not a bad recovery for South Town, I'd say." A laugh built behind Robin's words, and she seemed determined to take in a every building anew. Chrom could only smile at it, and keep a palm to her back to help steer her through the busy streets. The light in her eyes suggested that her brain was whirling away; imagining what sort of life her mother had built in this place, which buildings she may have frequented, or where she might have mingled with the other townsfolk.

There were more people filling the streets than before; the blue and silver of Roxanne gave away the identity of these newcomers. Some of them stopped to greet Chrom. A handful eyed his shoulder, even though this time around he'd taken pains to put a sleeve over the Brand. But everyone, long term resident and newcomer alike, moved with a definite haste.

Probably because many of them had to rally and gather themselves for an upcoming war.

"Well, quite a surprise to see your grace!" Came a familiar voice. The townsman had gained a few more gray hairs than the last time Chrom had seen him. Robin only favored him with a brief smile, before going back to scanning the crowds for a face.

"Well met," Chrom hurried to make up for her silence. "Though I can't give much time for pleasantries; we're actually here on personal business, and searching for someone."

"Oh? One of the Roxanne travelers perhaps? They've been a good collection to have around; a bit strange in some of their mannerisms, but it's felt safer, and there's never a dull evening when they decide to swap stories with us-"

Chrom stalled the man, shaking his head.

"No, I don't believe we're searching for anyone from Roxanne. Actually, it's a woman we're seeking. She goes by the name of,"

"Of Maela." Robin broke off her search when she realized what they were discussing. "Do... do you know of her? Please? Any aid you can give would be appreciated."

The man's eyes widened with what had to be recognition. At his side, Robin drew an excited, expectant breath, quivering with anticipation.

And yet, there was a sad glimmer in the man's eyes, that made Chrom's throat go dry.

"Ah, the outlander woman... your grace, you don't remember her?" Robin paused at his shoulder, taking in the man's expression. Her sides went still, and the silence stretched out as he stared at the villager.

"Remember... how?" Chrom's words came out heavy, a strange numbness already spreading across his tongue.

"You'd given us permission to give her a proper funeral." His hand stretched out to the grave markers just beyond the town.

Robin turned away from him.

-o-o-o-

"How... how could I not know it was her?" Robin knelt in the grass next to the marker. A simple name was carved in, along with the date of her passing. "I should have felt something when she- I should have _known_ , had some sort of connection-"

Her voice broke up right as her shoulders slumped forward, and she sank to the ground. Her hands moved over her eyes, as though they could hold the tears back.

"I-instead I... I forgot her. I didn't know who she was, or who I l- lost that day."

'Lost.' The word shuddered through her, making every nerve in her body shiver and tremble. The warmth of the sun overhead was sucked out of the air, leaving only the burn from her tears as they finally fell down her cheeks.

This was different from having holes in her memory; now she had an empty space shoved into her heart. One that felt as if it would never close, never mend now that she'd opened it up with this discovery.

She felt a different weight, distinct from the feeling lodging in her chest, wrap around her shoulders and draw her up next to Chrom's chest. He held her tight, as her sides heaved and the sobs broke out of her throat.

 _'Why-'_

"Only one person to die in the entire attack." Robin sobbed into his arms. "And it- it was HER." Chrom only tightened his hold on her and whispered,

"I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry... I don't know why this happened-"

 _'Why... just her?'_ The sobs stilled for a moment, as the question crystallized in her mind. Her hand went down to the dagger at her side, and she held it up in a trembling hand.

The same dagger they'd found here. And it had been by her mother's body. It may even had played a roll in her end. And it was too fine of steel for mere bandits to be carrying. Everything suddenly felt too much of a coincidence.

"We... we still don't know the story behind this. Only that it came from Valm." Ice ran through her. "...I need to learn why."

"Robin?"

"I'm still not sure I want to know all of my past... but I want justice for her." And maybe, somehow, find answers. The sorrow didn't leave, but it curled into a hard, tight gem of resolve, lodged in between Robin's lungs. "One more reason to go to Valm."


	34. Displaced

**Chapter 34: Displaced**

The docks of port Ferox swarmed with activity, accompanied by a constant drone of crews readying the ships and the lapping of ocean waters. Lucina sat against one of the dock posts, eyes scanning the harbor and the sprawling camp set beyond the tiny port.

The Plegian warships had arrived as promised, and now drifted in the waves. And Lucina had breathed out a sigh when she realized the holds weren't full of Risen. With the ships at port, the task began with loading them up with weapons, and supplies. That, and gathering the soldiers into camps as they all waited for the main force to be ready for sailing.

There was still quite a bit of waiting to be done. No matter how far Lucina ranged beyond the camp on her own searches and patrols, she couldn't ever seem to find enough to fill her days.

"Lucina," she stirred at a familiar voice, and turned to see Robin. The tactician stood on the docks, back carefully turned to the Plegian ships. With the violet eyes painted on the sides, it wasn't hard to see why she glanced away from them. And kept her focus on Lucina.

"Mother?" She tested the word again, and was rewarded with a tiny smile from the woman across from her. The weight of Southtown still rested on Robin's shoulders and hung around her eyes, but it faded for a moment upon hearing that word.

 _'It's hard to imagine she ever would have minded hearing that,'_ particularly when it brought her a small measure of peace.

"I've noticed you seem ill at ease, as of late." Robin continued. "And if you would tell me, I wish to hear why."

In answer, Lucina's eyes went back to the great field of tents growing along the hills. Ylisse, Ferox, even expatriates from Roxanne were arrayed in the camps. But as valuable as the troops were to their cause, they were not the ones she desperately wished to see.

"I... I keep hoping I'll see others from my time. That somehow they'll have made it here as well." But still there was no sign of any familiar faces. Lucina slumped forward.

"They'll find a way, I'm certain. Chrom was right, that we'll need all the help we can get in order to win this war." Robin offered, resting a hand on her shoulder. "And these others from your time must be capable."

Lucina gave a slight nod at that, but her own smile was watery.

 _'They are... but that doesn't prevent me from worrying about my-'_ Lucina stopped the thought short. She didn't want too much of that concern showing. Or adding more worry to her mother's shoulders.

"You're right. But... I suppose I have too much time on my hands, and it can cause me worry."

"Actually, I had a notion on that." Came a new voice, raising both Lucina and Robin's heads. And it made her brighten, and Robin's smile widen. Chrom moved down the docks with a surer step than before, a more confident light in his eyes, now that he had some sort of plan in his head. One that didn't involve sitting about.

"Apparently Vaike, Lissa, and Maribelle have been visiting the local taverns. Something about teaching Ricken the ways of bars... and I can safely say I NEVER imagined I'd hear those words out of Maribelle's mouth." Chrom gave a short laugh at that. "However while they were out carousing, they heard some interesting rumors about some place further to the north. Old ruins, from the sound of it... and locals talk about there being something sealed there..."

"You plan to investigate." Robin finished for him.

"If it gives us an edge in the coming conflict, then yes. I… just have a feeling about this, too, that there's something important there. I wish I could put it into better words than that, but…" There was a far off look in his eyes, like he was trying to recall some hazy memory.

"I've gone with gut instinct before, and while it isn't my preferred way to act on…" Robin tilted her head to Chrom. "I'm also not getting any feelings we should avoid this, either. And far be it from me to say we can only act on MY spur of the moment ideas."

"I resent that," Chrom laughed out. "I'll have you know I've had this feeling whenever I wake up for weeks, by now. Not that I can recall my dreams very well, but still. And besides... well, aren't you the least bit curious?"

Robin stepped forward, favoring Chrom with a knowing smile. "If it held the attention of those three long enough to report it, then yes. I'd like to go with you and bring a few of the other Shepherds along."

Lucina stood as well, hovering for a moment, looking between them and wondering how to ask-

"Lucina... do you want to go with us? I stand by what I said on Carrion Island. You have clear skill with sword, and I'd be glad to have you fighting alongside us again."

"I..." it would be an honor, her thoughts said. A chance to make sure they both stayed safe. But ultimately she settled for a small, slightly squeaked out "yes!"

And somehow, going by how her parents smiled at her, they caught the meaning well enough.

-o-o-o-

The ruins stretched out as far as the eye could see, pristine and white, their sheen unsullied by however many ages had gone by. Sea water lapped up through the fallen columns and half submerged marble floors. Chrom took a deep breath of it as he looked around. His steps echoed across the first platform.

"It has to be the place," he murmured. There was old power here, somewhere; as ambient as the mist settling about the Shepherds.

The ambient energy settled into his bones, like a soothing hum or a familiar touch. Off to the side of the group, he thought he glimpsed Lucina tilting her head; like she caught a very faint feeling of it. He wanted to ask her more, but the expectant looks from the rest of the Shepherds stilled that question.

He allowed himself one breath to steady himself, then raised his voice.

"I'm certain you all know why we're here, but to remind you…" he recounted the tale, that there was supposed to be something sacred to Naga hidden in the ruins. "...Hopefully we won't have to brave too many brigands, or-"

He cut off, seeing something dark move between fallen and half standing columns. Another shadowy thing lurched about, and he could pick out more and more black dots, looking like sores on the pristine temple surface.

"...Risen." He finished, hand going for Falchion. "Looks like we'll be earning this treasure the old fashioned way, after all."

They weren't a large group of explorers; just a detachment of Shepherds with the rest managing the camp. But all the same, they all braced up for battle well enough. Stahl and Cordelia were already mounting up, with Sully in the saddle and ready to lead the charge, according to Robin's plans.

"Remember the strategy," Robin cautioned them. "Riders, take the front and watch where you lead your horses. The footing looks precarious enough here. Mages, keep to the rear, and foot fighters watch our flanks."

Miriel was among the ranks, as were Ricken and Gregor; they all gave a quick nod, before following the clatter of hooves; the forward riders were already vanishing into the mists.

Lucina hesitated, caught between following the others, or staying with Chrom and Robin. She'd been standing apart from the others as is, and now stopped short in her tracks.

"Go on ahead," Robin gave her a soft bit of encouragement. "You don't have a scarred Brand to worry about, so there's no reason you can't fight. And you'd do better moving on ahead, instead of fretting over us." Lucina considered, before giving a quick nod.

Leaving Chrom with Robin.

' _It's for the best,'_ he reminded himself, although his muscles all twitched to charge ahead, and get into the thick of the battle. His brand itched, eager to join in on the restless feeling. Ahead, a clash of steel rang out, though curiously muffled by the hazy air and echoed off the marble ruins.

"…This is driving you mad, I know." Robin murmured, and he caught the way she shifted from foot to foot, the fingers on her right hand clasping and unclasping. "But…"

"…But we need to try and get a handle on how the Brands are acting, and fight off any sudden transformations, I know." Chrom answered.

"AND keep an eye out for any ambushes." Robin continued. But she at least let them walk forward, tailing the sounds of a conflict. Together they picked their way along the edges of the ruins, skirting the ledges of the platforms as the sea tide swirled underneath them.

The Emblem stayed on Chrom's arm, a comforting weight. And Robin carried Argent at her side, under his insistence. And as restless as he felt, the two treasures DID seem to fulfill their tasks. As he forced himself to breath in deep, the tug from the Brand seemed to ebb-

But he could feel a tug from something else. He froze for a moment, terrified he'd underestimated the pull. Maybe it was too soon after their transformation, maybe the Emblem's influence was waning-

Maybe he should have moved, so Robin didn't smack straight into his back. His balance was already half gone. When she bumped into him, it went all the way. Without thinking her grabbed onto her, trying to keep his balance. But all he succeeded in doing was pulling her down with him, with a massive splash of cold water that made him gasp.

"Chrom!? What was-?" Robin just managed to sputter, trying to slosh back up to her feet and pull sodden bangs out of her face. Her eyes couldn't seem to settle on being furious, confused, or blanching from just how chilly the water was.

Ultimately confusion won out, as she broke eye contact with him and stared down at something. Chrom followed her gaze, eyes settling on the Emblem. There was a strange glimmer, down in one of the sockets of the shield. Something in the ruins was calling out to the Emblem.

Their eyes both traced back to the fight.

'But… I think they can handle themselves. And they have Lucina with them.' That seemed to decide Robin as well.

"Seems like your hunch was right." Robin breathed out. "Something IS here… and we need to find out just what it is."

-o-o-o-

 _'Where am I?'_ was the first thought in the boy's head. Followed quickly by _'Who am I-?'_

That was when he picked out shapes moving about wherever he was... and there was a lurch to their steps that told him the strangers weren't anything good. He was also sure that normal, friendly people didn't have smoke seeping out of their mouths. Underneath the slant of his hood he could also see a red glow in their eyes. Which ALSO didn't look friendly.

 _'Am I going to die?'_ took third place in terms of questions. He cast around for a weapon, only to realize he was wearing a sword at his side, and a spell tome strapped to his other hip. At pouch was tied to his belt, curiously heavy with something. An experimental draw and cut with the blade told him he could at least use a sword, and the weapon almost danced through the air in his hands.

He stepped carefully through the ruins, trying to keep his footsteps from echoing, and avoiding any staircase he saw. He was sure there was a rustle of footsteps from down the steps...

"Do you hear something-?" A voice echoed against the walls, from somewhere across the water. He froze, listening closely-

And then wincing when the voice got traded out for a yelp, followed by a massive splash of water.

"Gods above Chrom, don't freeze in front of me like that!" Came a second voice, that yanked the boy's head up to attention. "I'm getting a bit tired of getting soaked."

"S-sorry, but...I think I heard something, that wasn't the Shepherds. Here, watch my back. I'll take point." A splashing sound, as someone moved through the mist. As he listened, the boy crouched down, trying to pick out something from the mist.

He saw them; two figures trudging their way out of the water. He couldn't make out the second one, but the man leading looked... oddly familiar. He had blue hair and fine clothing, sodden as it was with water. Something about the man held his gaze...

He almost forgot that he had is back to the steps. Almost. A faint shadow fell over him, and he rolled out of the way just before a spear found his back. The steel spearhead struck tile with a loud CHNK, as he rolled out of the way. He tried to find his feet, hand going to the spell tome at his side. For an instant, the ruins went from white to red as a fire spell lit the area. The flames glowed an unusual bright crimson, before they hit the spear wielder, charring the skin an even deeper black while the eyes burned bright in pain.

...But still, it stood. He fumbled for his book, trying to bring up another spell-

Only for the splashing to grow louder, as someone pulled themselves out of the water. The man in blue slammed hard into his attacker, cleaving the burned form in two with a great, golden blade.

"Wh-who are you?" Before he could think, the question fell out of his mouth. The man froze, turning back to look at him with eyes widened in surprise.

"...I could ask you the same thing." The warrior answered. "There's a battle going on here, lad. Why on earth are you in these ruins?"

The question tugged at his mind, and brought a headache fast on the heels of it.

"I-I don't... I don't know. I don't remember..." He was VERY sure there was supposed to be something in his head instead of a blank space. Through the pain building in his head, he glimpsed a strange, almost concerned look pass through the stranger's face.

"You lost your memory-?" The stranger spoke at last.

"I...I do have a name, though." He offered, having something flicker across his thoughts. "Morgan."

"Well then, Morgan." A hand rested on his shoulder, steadying him. "My name is Chrom... and apparently I have a special talent for finding amnesiacs."

There was an odd chuckle in the back of Chrom's throat, and that prompted Morgan to smile a little as well. "You do?" Morgan found himself asking.

"Aye. I actually met someone very important to me in a very similar situation. Her name is Robin-"

"Mother!?" Morgan blurted out before he could think. The name slammed into place in his brain, along with who he was really looking for. "You know my mother?"

"Wait then you're- You're-?" Chrom, for his part, looked like he'd just been punched in the gut. He stared at Morgan, mouth hanging open and trying to form more words. Instead, a new voice drifted in from the mists.

"Ah, Chrom... don't charge off like that. I was terrified you'd-" this time Morgan had no trouble placing who it belonged to. He dashed past Chrom, as the man gaped after him. On the edge he saw his mother pulling herself out of the water-

And swiftly fell back in with Morgan, as he threw himself into her arms. A second splash followed and Morgan babbled, heedless of how his mother was sputtering.

"Mother! I was so worried you were-"

"W-wait what!?" He heard he all but squeak, as he finally got a good look at her. Something about the temple air and getting dunked in the water certainly agreed with her, he thought privately. She seemed years younger.

"Um... Chrom? Is there something you want to tell me?" His mother asked, looking between them. Chrom lowered himself back down into the water, sloshing over to them. He put a hand on Robin's shoulder, tracing his fingers down to her arm in a strangely tender gesture... at least to Morgan's eyes. Chrom's other hand rested on Morgan's back, and he pulled them both up. Once they were standing, he didn't remove his grip.

"Okay... everyone, stay calm and listen for a moment. Robin... is my wife. Which means you're my son, and you came from the future along with Lucina."

Strange, how those words made sense individually. But put together, they made Morgan's head scrunch up.

"But- but I don't remember you! Just... just mother. I needed to find her-" Robin took a deep breath, and brought her hands up to Morgan's cheeks, pushing his hood aside.

"Look for yourself, Morgan."

Morgan's eyes darted down to the water, following the way she gestured. He caught his reflection in the rippling water; his hair was mussed... but unmistakably the same color as Chrom's.

 _'Huh. You'd think I'd remember something as important as hair color.'_ Morgan thought, running his hand through his hair and looking back up at Chrom. The man who had to be his father hesitated, an almost pained light crossing his eyes.

"At least... at least you remember your mother." Chrom finally said. "I wish we could talk more and figure this out, but this isn't a safe place. Stay close, and we'll figure a way out of this."

Morgan gave a quick nod, hands going to his spell book.

"I can fight as well, trust me! I can defend myself... is something wrong?" The eyes of his parents rested on the cover, taking in the cover and the hint of flames in the design.

"...It had to be fire magic," Robin muttered under her breath. "Morgan, can you... possibly stick to a sword instead, if you know that?"

"I don't see why not," he admitted, following them both along a stone pathway. He would have liked lighting a fire to chase the sodden feeling out of their clothes, though.

Morgan stared at the backs of his mother, and the person he was slowly becoming more and more convinced was his father. His thoughts felt weirdly stretched out, half formed... and there was a strange, warm feeling in his chest. Yet like his thoughts, that warm feeling only felt half filled.

"Isn't there supposed to be another...?" He murmured out. The thought caused Morgan to lag behind the group, rubbing at his head. Still disoriented, and the blank space in his head wasn't helping. Or giving him any answers. The steps of his parents were growing fainter, a gap growing between them.

Though Morgan didn't quite notice that. Or how there were still shapes moving through the misty ruins. Ones that didn't seem much like the living.

"For...saken future... child..." A hiss of words fell over Morgan, prickling every hair he had on his head. The voice crawled up his back and into his ears, coming from a rotted throat. Morgan spun around, his eyes meeting bright red spots in a battle scarred, stitched and rotting face.

 _'GUARD UP!'_ His thoughts screamed at him, and his arm raced to act. His sword hand jerked up, and the axe slide across the blade with a screech of metal on metal. The axe skittered loose as the attacker threw all its strength into the cut. Morgan staggered back, shuddering against an attack he couldn't fully turn and arms screaming. His feet slipped against the marble, and slid back until he had to duck away under the force of the attack. The axe barely missed his neck when Morgan flinched to the side, balance and strength both spent.

"K-kill..." The Risen rasped out, raising the axe above its head. He saw his mother turning, eyes wide when they saw him kneeling against the ground. She dashed towards him, shouting out something-

"YOU WON'T HARM HIM!" A new voice screamed out. The next instant a figure in blue lunged in front of the Risen. He picked out a sword much like Chrom's, raised against the attacker. The blue figure threw herself against the Risen, all but howling. She knocked the axe aside for an instant, twisting around to stare at Morgan, a desperate and fearful light in her eyes.

"A-are you-?"

Morgan was pretty sure shoulders weren't supposed to pop out of alignment like that. But they did on the Risen, and the arm still had enough strength to bring its axe around in another swing, blindsiding the girl. She tried to twist out of the way, only for the axe to strike her outstretched hand. Iron stained the air, and her left arm opened up from elbow to hand, the fingers twisted into pained claws. She screamed as the Risen tried to attack again.

Morgan rushed in, shoving her away from an attack that could have taken her head. Instead it lashed him across the shoulder, a line of burning pain. They both crashed to the ground, wincing from the impact.

A frenzied howl opened up from behind the Risen, as something slammed into it with robes billowing. The Risen collapsed as Robin stabbed her sword down into its neck, lightning sparking from the zigzag blade in her hands. For an instant, Morgan swore he saw a shadow of wings from her back-

The next, they were gone, as she and the Risen skidded across the tiles. Robin called down thunder, again and again. The Risen didn't rise from the attack.

"H-here. Heal up, before you bleed out." Came a voice from beside him. Morgan found himself taking a vulnerary, as the girl poured one over her arm. The wounds sealed up instantly from the poultice... and to his shock, the blood steamed away as well. In another instant, it looked like there had never been a wound at all.

He didn't remember vulneraries doing that.

"Morgan..." The girl's voice reached his ears, and he turned around to see tears rolling down her face as she looked at him.

"A-are you okay?" Morgan tried to say. And wondering at the familiar feeling tracing through his head. "Are you still hurt? I thought your wound got healed all the way up-urk!?"

A pair of arms thrown around his neck and crushing him close to her chest cut off the rest of his questions.

"I-I thought you were lost." She sobbed into his shoulder. "Gods, how could you worry me like that!?"

Finally a name pushed its way into his head. And this time it didn't make his head ache as it slipped out onto his tongue.

"Lucina? Your name is Lucina, right?" She pulled away from him, her eyes gone red and puffy in record time.

"You... you don't remember?" Lucina barely got the words out, searching his face for something; some hint of recognition. There was such a desperate light in her eyes, that Morgan felt a pang of guilt.

"Well, I'm guessing by the similar hair color, we're... siblings?" Morgan tried.

"...And apparently, we all have some explaining to do." Chrom's voice came in above both of them. A shuffle of steps, and Robin picked her way over too.

His sister said nothing, shaking her head and running the sleeve that was still intact across her face to scrub the tears away.

"I... didn't want to raise your hopes when-" she started to whisper out around a choked throat. But she trailed off as an odd metallic thud echoed around the ruins, followed by a triumphant cry.

"JACKPOT!" A woman shouted out. She almost danced through the ruins, her red hair falling around her face. "Got the Risen off our backs, and guess what they were guarding? A nice collection of treasure chests!"

"AND, you should be glad to know I've tickled open the lock!" The red haired woman said, tossing a shiny object up and down in her hand. "A crystal tear of Naga. It's a nice enough little trinket, but the main chest was empty..."

She trailed off as Morgan reached down to the bag at his side. He drew the strings open, and pulled out a crimson, nearly blood red gem. Chrom stared as he held it up, and Morgan noticed how the gem looked like it would fit easily into the shield Chrom carried.

"...I think we should head back." Chrom finally said. "And everyone should get some much needed rest... while we see if Basilio and Flavia can spare a drink and some conversation, about what this is doing in their territory."


	35. Echoes of the Past

**C** **hapter 35: Ec** **hoes of the Past**

Thick tavern doors shut out the worst of the damp and chill. But for all that, mist and fog from the ruins had followed the Shepherds back to the Feroxi port and now idled outside the windows, cloaking the city in a gray blanket.

The poor weather wasn't the only thing that had followed them back. The confusion that latched onto Robin stayed with her, the entire trip to port.

Watching over the boy, Morgan, only increased the weightless sensation in her stomach and heart. For his part, Morgan rested his head on his hands, the wear of a fight and travel finally settling on him. He kept his gaze stretched across the tavern table, rooted to the red gemstone held in Basilio's grip.

The former Grand Khan, turned the gem over, the rich red of its surface catching the candle glow. It cast a red light across his face, and the table they were all seated at. Basilio stared hard at it through his one eye... and then gave a booming laugh.

"HAH! I'm not surprised you'd be the ones to turn the damned thing back up." Basilio's slapped Chrom hard across the back. Despite the last battle and the fast march back to port, Chrom managed to stand up against the blow. Granted, with a touch of stumbling and a tiny pained noise.

"Y-yes, but..." Chrom managed, straightening up and focusing on the gem. "We're still trying to figure out what this is, and why it's here... and if there's some sort of connection between it, and the Emblem." Robin glanced to the Emblem at the same time Chrom did.

Ylisse's treasure now rested at the center of the table, with Lucina keeping watch over it. Their daughter had a hand cautiously extended to the shield, almost but not quite touching the surface. Lucina's eyes darted between the relic and the new found treasure... and Morgan, trying to keep track of them each in turn. Robin didn't think that she imagined Lucina keeping an extra close eye on Morgan, however; almost as though she was afraid he'd vanish, if she looked away for too long.

"And we hoped that as Khans, and since it was found in your territory, you or Flavia might have a notion on it." Robin added on. "It seems we weren't far off the mark, in that respect."

Basilio gave a nod at that. "We've all had stories about Gules circulating... or maybe it's called Jewel, the damned singers always change up how they say it. But aye, I know of it. It used to be a treasure passed down among the Grand Khans."

"And yet you never saw fit to say anything about it, oaf?" Flavia leaned back against her chair, sighing as she drained her drink.

"Don't bite my head off over it, woman. I only know as much as you do about it; and I wasn't the one who lost it. Lay that one on the head of a Khan several generations back."

"So... why do the Khans have something that appears to belong to Ylisse?" Robin was still blinking over the gem, watching when Basilio laid the gem at the center of the table. Next to the Emblem, it appeared to belong more than ever. Underneath the conversation, Lucina tilted her head and hummed something to herself; some song, faintly familiar in Robin's ears.

"I... distantly remember tales." Chrom finally spoke, his brow furrowed. "The Emblem is part of several heirlooms. It, Falchion... and five gems. We've only held onto the silver gem for generations."

"I've heard stories too." Lucina added, breaking away from her hum. With the way her eyes slid over to Chrom, Robin got an idea on where she'd heard the stories. Apparently Chrom hadn't lost his talent for tales, in Lucina's time. "They say that all five gems had too much power to them. Too much temptation, so they were split up to divide that power."

"...Much like how we have too much power now." Chrom murmured. A scowl flashed against his face, and Robin pinched her fingers together to keep the ache in her hand at bay. The frown faded from Chrom when he glanced between the gems. "But... Argent helps. Maybe Gules will do the same? I know Robin and I both felt something from it, just from being in the same ruins as it. If..."

Chrom raised his head to the two Khans. "With your permission? It... may have once been of Ylisse, but Ferox can stake a claim too."

"Red as blood true to name, stills the dragon's flame." Flavia hummed what sounded like a verse. "Another one of Xane's poems. If he wasn't centuries gone, I'd have him by the ear and demanding what he had locked in his head... But either way it DOES belong to Ylisse. We've just been borrowing it for generations… and then losing it. And you were the ones to find it. I say you bring it with you. It can't hurt, and we need every edge we can get in this fight."

-o-o-o-

Lucina let her breath out, watching the two Khans leave the room. They took much of the surrounding activity and energy with them, resulting in a quiet tavern with little more than a few flickering lamps and a fireplace.

And the three people that formed her family, who were in not hurry to refill the room with any conversation.

They were waiting for her to provide some answers, and explanations. She knew that; could see it in the cautious way Robin started forward, and the way her mother's eyes darted between Lucina and Morgan. But Lucina wasn't ready to raise her head all the way, still watching the gemstones… and the brother beyond them. It remained unreal that he was even there, and she stopped short of putting a hand on him to check; it would probably distract him even more, and Morgan already seemed plenty confused and out of touch with everything.

"Lucina… why didn't you say you had a brother?" Robin gave the first question. "Particularly when it's clear you were searching for him?"

Lucina froze at the observation, before flinching her head up to stare at Robin.

"I may be... distracted at times," her mother admitted. And Lucina knew she was tracing a hand over the dagger at her side. "But that doesn't mean I'm blind to everything else. You've had your eyes open and ranging out on patrols for several days now; I had the notion you were searching for something or someone... but..."

And at that, Robin trailed off to gaze at Morgan. The certainty in her face wavered.

"...But I never would have guessed a sibling. Yet I can't argue with what my eyes see." Morgan stared up at Robin, a hurt look crossing his face for an instant. It was only on his face for a breath, but Lucina recognized and was too familiar with it. It was an echo to her own expression, back in the ruins. It had been the first time she saw Morgan since the time leap. The first time she saw him, was reunited with him... and he didn't remember her.

"I... I wish I could tell you more." Morgan's words came out in a murmur. "Explain how I got here, why I'm here... and why I don't remember anything."

"I... can only provide so much in the way of answers, myself. But I can at least try to fill in some of the gaps." Lucina at last found her voice.

She had to gather her breath... and then allowed everything to rush out of her.

"I didn't tell you about Morgan because... I thought he was d-dead. L-Like-" Everyone else in her family. "I thought I'd failed everyone. I didn't want to tell you about Morgan, only to... to twist a knife in either of you. Morgan never made it through the portal with the rest of us. At least, I never saw him travel through, once the spell took hold. But now..."

She trailed off, a soft touch resting on her arm. Lucina blinked over to see Morgan's hand resting on her wrist, the bandages just poking out from under his robe's sleeve.

"Well, now I'm here at the least?" Her brother offered, a smile almost showing on his face. "Though I can tell you... I'm pretty sure I wasn't TRYING to make you think I was dead. But... I don't remember much; about a time portal or anything similar."

"It's a great deal to take in at once, for all of us." Chrom sighed out. "And we don't have much more information to go on... other than more motivation to ensure this bad future doesn't come about."

"It's enough." Robin added, prompting Chrom to dip his head in agreement. "It may take some getting used to... but you're here now. Both of you are."

"I only wish," Lucina tried to say, though it was hard to narrow down what she wished for specifically; that Morgan remembered, that she'd protected him better, or told her parents about him, that he'd never needed to travel through time in the first place... it was hard to narrow it down.

Morgan simply gave Lucina's hand a squeeze. Easily bridging the gap, where she hesitated.

"Lucy, it's going to be ok-" Morgan cut off, eyes going wide over his own words. And Lucina knew her face was a match. For not remembering her, the nickname he used to call her by rolled easily off his tongue.

-o-o-o-

Morgan had been the first one they found, but not the last. As they marshaled their own forces, more of Lucina's generation turned up and filled out the rest of the campgrounds. Each one added their own sense of presence and chaos to the Shepherds. Sully was already drilling her own daughter Kjelle, and pulling the rest of the kids into exercises when she could. He'd glimpsed Tharja murmuring _something_ when her own daughter turned up, talisman in hand; it could have been some sort of hex, though whether it was to protect Noire or wither her enemies, he couldn't say... and was nervous about asking. He still wasn't sure how Nowi had a daughter, when she STILL acted younger than Nah. Severa didn't seem to take after Cordelia very much, either. Yarne flat out badgered Panne AND his father...

...Yet for all the chaos they brought to the Shepherds, there was also something else. They'd made Lucina and Morgan both smile. And he'd seen their parents at ease, more often than not. Some of them were also still trying to grasp the fact that they had children.

But Chrom wouldn't trade this chaos out for dulled peace. Not in a million years. Even if it made him restless and wandering the Feroxi docks late at night. The wood echoed under his feet at each pace. Overhead a handful of stars peeked out, glimmering through the mist. Chrom leaned back against one of the dock posts, digging into the pouch at his side.

Gules glimmered between his fingers, the night doing little to steal the fire and scarlet trapped in the gem. With it held up to a sliver of moon scything through the stars, it blazed like a handful of fireflies.

Watching it, Chrom's mind wandered.

It matched what he'd glimpsed in his dream, on Carrion Island so many moons ago.

 _'Tied to Ylisse, one way or another... and found in Morgan's hands. Did he tease the treasure chest open before we ever reached it? And... why? Why did the ruins call out to him, as they did with me?'_

"Careful you don't drop it." A familiar voice teased Chrom's ears, as did a breathy laugh; one of the first he'd heard in what seemed a long time. Robin sounded a bit strained, trying to dig up some happiness again... and mostly succeeding.

Chrom felt a faint smile trace on his face, and saw Robin moving across the docks.

"Robin, still up?"

"It's a bit difficult to go to sleep, when the bed is empty." Robin answered. "And it's growing late... you should get some rest."

In spite of her words, Robin sat down next to him. The dock post made for narrow seating, but they managed to find a balance; even if she was half sitting in his lap. She bumped her shoulder to his, and gave a content sigh as he looped an arm around her shoulders. Summer was fading around the countryside, but a bit of heat still clung to them both and hung muggy in the night air.

"I-I know. I have get a lot on my mind." Chrom admitted.

"You aren't the only one; there was... a great deal of revelations going on. It says something when discovering a forgotten gemstone and country heirloom is the least of a month's surprises." Robin looked over Gules, and cautiously stretched a finger out to it. She traced it along the gemstone… and Chrom didn't think he imagined her flesh going a little colder. Almost like the gem could trap any excess fire, either in their blood or in their surroundings.

"It's been several days, but I think Morgan's memories are going to remain in the same state as mine. They don't show any sign of coming back-"

"…And I am NOT going to encourage him to try slamming his head into anymore walls or posts." Chrom finished for her.

"I… told Morgan that we're going to be warring with Valm," and even now, months into the preparations, that weight still tried to yank down at Chrom's heart. "And that he shouldn't feel pressured to go with us; he could return to Ylisse if he wished and try to regain his memories-"

Robin raised her hand, and Chrom trailed off at the motion.

"I'm going to guess and say his reaction to you was identical to my own suggestion that he stay behind." Robin continued, giving her voice a small pitch. "Something along the lines of 'NO you need every strategist you can get! I'm not watching the rest of my family go off and do nothing!' and 'I want to be with you, not resting!' So... was I close?"

"...Unnervingly so. And yes, it went the same was as yours did. I couldn't convince our... our son to stay safe-" And in many ways it bothered him. But saying that out loud did something else to him.

 _'Our son.'_ The words sent a strange, warm thrum through his chest.

"Robin..." she raised her head to him. "We... we have children."

An obvious statement, but she only smiled at it and nodded, letting her head drift to Chrom's shoulder.

"We have a _family._ " She answered him, and the way she said it... it was clear that just then, any revelations Validar had thrown on her were distant in her mind. Or paled compared to the children that had stumbled into their lives.

"It's still a lot to grasp," Chrom admitted. "But I can't deny what I see, either."

"The Brand in his right eye proves it," Robin mused. "Left eye and right eye; it's…"

"…Amazing that they line up so exactly, I know." Chrom finished her sentence for her. "There was never THAT much symmetry in my own family and siblings. Emm-"

He hated how his voice hiccuped around the name, even now. He also hated the way his thoughts tried to coil up, to second guess again what he was doing. He was pretty certain invading another country wouldn't be Emmeryn's answer to things-

' _Stop. You're going to go into circles thinking like that,'_ and just then he didn't want to go down that path. He'd burdened Robin with his fears and regrets enough already, and there were other matters to focus on just then.

"…Emm bore her brand on her forehead, not her shoulder. But there's almost a certain… resonance between Lucina and Morgan." At least their son's name didn't stick in his throat the same way. If anything it came naturally off the tongue.

"But… the Brands at least are intact." Robin continued. "Believe me, I checked. Multiple times. What happened to us **can't** happen to them. As in, it physically can't happen to them, as long as the Brands stay that way. And I'm not about to let either of them get their eyes hurt."

Her voice had an almost deadly edge on that, and Chrom knew that his face darkened to match it; only a few days of realizing he had children, and already he was willing to cut through anything that threatened them. It was only luck that Robin had reached the Risen first, back in the ruins.

' _Careful.'_ The rational part of his thoughts cautioned. Anger like that, however protective it was, could quickly turn dangerous… and call up things he sooner would keep buried. Robin may have had the same thoughts, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. The fingers of her hand twitched, one at a time; a familiar ritual to Chrom, showing she was keeping her own mark under control.

A silence stretched out between them; it could have been seconds of minutes, where they simply enjoyed the other's presence. But a tight knot remained in Chrom's thoughts, refusing to be eased away even with Robin's company.

He found himself voicing it.

"But... I still worry."

"About the future?"

"Hah, that might actually be a better thing to concern myself with. But Valm has been ousted from my thoughts... mostly." He felt a touch of heat in his cheeks, and ducked his head as he continued. "I... actually I worry about our children."

"About- Chrom, they're capable fighters. I don't think their injuries will be severe, either-"

"That's… not exactly it." He'd seen how capable they were. And that worried him; he didn't want them to be forced into combat. It would be better if they came from a world that never demanded fighting from them.

But at the same time, he could almost picture how eager either of them might have been to pick up the sword. That alone was clear from how often Lucina wanted to spar with him. It made for an uncomfortable echo, with how he'd been as a child.

"It's more of... ah, dammit I'll just say it! I don't know what I'M supposed to do, Robin!" There. It was out of his mouth. And in response he was going red in the face, enough to match Gules. "I... how am I supposed to be a good father to them? I'm still getting used to the idea, and... they've already lost a lot of time with their father. I don't want them to lose any more because I'm a fool."

Robin said nothing to that. Instead, she rested a hand on his chest.

"My own father... I wouldn't tote him as being a good example in raising children. He was absent more often than not... and when he was back, he..." Chrom lifted his hand upwards; she caught it in her free one, already guessing it was going to his Brand.

"...He took on an injury like mine. I- I don't want history to repeat, either in the past OR the future. I want them to have something better..."

He trailed off as Robin let go of his hand, her fingers trailing up to touch his chin and pull it towards her. She pressed her lips to the corner of his jaw, before pulling him close so she could murmur in his ear.

"Love, I don't know how to be a mother, either. So at least all four of us can stumble through this together. You heard it from Lucina herself; we weren't around to give her a childhood, and Morgan... he's lost whatever he had as well." Her voice had grown thick for a moment, and Chrom realized he hadn't been voicing just his own worries. She had her own absent parents to grapple with, and her own worries over their family. "But... we can begin trying to make up for it. We're here with them NOW, Chrom. And I think that will make the world of difference to all of us."

She lifted her eyes to look at him, and he answered by giving her a kiss on the cheek as well.

"You're right as usual." He murmured. "And... I suppose you're right about getting some rest as well. But can I trust you to keep me company?"

Her answer was taking him by the hand, and leading him back to the inn.

-o-o-o-

His nails slid across the urn, picking out patterns that suggested coils and tear drop shapes. The sound scrapped and echoed across the room, forming a ceaseless skittering sound. Beneath his fingers and contained in the urn, ashes stirred. They added to the scratching with a sigh, shifting about inside.

The urn was a small thing, however ornately decorated it was, to hold something of such great importance. Or some _one_ of great importance.

In arm's reach were materials for a ritual, carefully arrayed on a slab of stone. Some, like the ceremonial dagger glimmering in faint torch and candle light. Others, more sinister instruments and vials of black fluid, seemed to drink in the wane amounts of red glow.

The Grimleal did not permit much in the way of natural light to breach this far down. It was almost seen as an insult to their own master, to catch sight of something _she_ was denied, locked deep in the earth and sealed by ancient spells.

 _'And forced to wait far past the proper time,'_ While that fool of a girl played at a mortal life, polluting the sacred line with the blood of an enemy-

Validar's nails scrapped against stone and porcelain both. They drawing thin and shrieking lines in the urn, where his fingers had turned to a fist. The other hand was equally violent, swiping out and upsetting the arrangement of spell reagents on the table. The vials clanked where they spilled across the surface… but thankfully didn't break.

Validar's eyes paused over the scarlet cloth aid out against the table, acting as backdrop for every ingredient. And his eyebrows furrowed together for a moment, scowling over an unbidden memory.

She'd been dressed in similar cloth, of the finest weave; scarlet and violet mingling together with gold jewelry. She was a match for him, both of them joining hands at the altar to symbolize that they'd become a bonded; joined together for a common cause.

The service to the Grimleal, and Grima.

' _And yet, even with a ceremony such as that, she forgot.'_

She'd taken a cloth much the same, when she'd stolen away in the night. And he'd heard only a handful of reports from there; whispers of sightings, near encounters... and one claim that she was dead. Validar hadn't given it much mind, until now. No certainty that the one who penned the report had done more than exaggerate for his own gain.

But now-

 _'Perhaps I was untoward in dismissing such a report... and there's yet a role for him to perform._ _It will take time to reach across the sea. But the poor wretch should be given a warning, of what's to come… if he's to play his part correctly. It should reach him before the ceremony is enacted, if I send the message tonight.'_

Validar left the spell preparations for the time being; it would take time for everything to be aligned... and there was a letter of his own, with his own instructions that was long past time to be written.


	36. Rallying

**Chapter 36: Rallying**

The ships were gathered at harbor, a forest of cloth sails bobbing in the waves. A gentle creak of timber was as constant as the rush of ocean drawing in and out. Most of the vessels had been loaded, whether with supplies or soldiers and leaving the port town ghost-like in comparison. All that remained was the core of the Shepherds, a few of the Feroxi commanders, and a scant amount of Rosanne's fighters, under Virion's watch. They had their eyes on Chrom and Robin both, an expectant hush holding back the usual murmur of their voices.

The two had one of the last remaining ships to their backs, feet half on the gangplank in order to board it. And once they were on board, that would signify it was time to put the entire fleet out to sea.

"They're waiting for a speech," Robin offered in a soft voice, but saw how Chrom kept his head down. For all that rode on this moment, Chrom didn't seem eager to have reached it.

"I..." he sighed out, almost flinching when he raised his eyes up to the waiting soldiers. "I... thank you for answering my summons," and from the way he spoke, it was clear those words weren't his own.

Something Frederick created as a contingency, more than likely.

"I promise your trust is correctly placed, and I will lead you to a victory; Valm presents too severe of a threat to ignore. And..." his features tightened for a moment, as though the words were bitter. "And we will answer the threat with our own might. To find a lasting peace."

Chrom finished the words with a rush, only holding his gaze enough on the gathered forces, to press the speech in. And with that done, he turned to board the ship, feet almost running up the plank. An Exalt or regent shouldn't appear to be running from anything... but Robin didn't have it in her heart to say that. Instead she went up at a stately walk of her own.

Raising her eyes, Robin saw two blue haired heads watching her and Chrom from the ship's rail... and she could understand a bit better why he hurried. Seeing her children, Robin also found herself eager to be on board the ship with them, with her own family, and setting sail.

-o-o-o-

The world had shifted to one of endless blue and bright shimmering light, shining in time to the sway and roll of the ships. Overhead, pegasus knights rode the ocean breeze well above the sails, rising and falling with the wind as smooth as any sea bird.

"It's... nice being out on a ship." Robin knew the surprise was clear in her voice, shifting her balance in time to the waves. And the sea was so clear it was hard to pick out where water ended and sky began. It almost felt like flying, in a strange way. Maybe that's why there wasn't any pull in her chest just then, to be up with pegasus or wyvern riders.

"Uuuurgh... if you say so, Mother. But couldn't you have found a gem that does something about sea sickness?" Morgan groaned from where he leaned over the railing. Robin gave him a pitying look, and ran a hand over his hair. That at least got him to lift his head, mumbling that he'd be alright.

"...Can you move aside and give me some room, too? I'm not feeling all that well, either." Lucina added, slumping against the railing on Robin's other side. "I really wish I knew where Morgan and I picked up this lack of sea legs. Does Aunt Lissa have it?"

"Afraid not, and neither do I." Came Chrom's voice. He moved in behind Robin, resting a hand on her shoulder to steady himself against the roll of the ship. "I admit I haven't found my balance yet, but I'm well enough. But Lucina... you and Morgan have never been on a ship before?"

"In my time, all of them were burned and smashed." Their daughter answered, and the misery in her voice made it sound that she half wished that was still the case.

"And trust me, I'd REMEMBER feeling this miserable." Morgan groaned. "But... I don't want to go into a cabin or anything. I-I want to be out here, with you."

"Morgan..." Lucina paused, and Morgan favored her with a weak smile.

"I still don't remember much. And what I do is all hazy, like I've got pieces of a puzzle but there's big chunks and images missing. But... I think I like you as a sister, though?" Morgan offered. "I like being around you, I mean. And you're pretty cool in a fight, too."

Lucina actually managed to raise her head above the ship's rail, and give a brief laugh at that. Morgan gave a watery smile when he spoke, quelling a little of the nausea in his body. "But I could use some help on remembering how exactly to be a brother to you."

"Well, you could be a little... pushy. And a bit of a know it all." Though even with those words, that smile and laugh stayed in Lucina's voice. "But you are my brother, and you seemed to have a plan, no matter what we faced. And if I ever stop feeling sick, I promise I'll look after you, and tell you more."

"And if it stays smooth sailing, I'd like to hear." Morgan added on.

"Quite a few 'ifs,' but... it feels like our troubles are far away, for now." Robin murmured, keeping a hand on Morgan's shoulders. Time to be more of a family, instead of a collection of soldiers. Her son and daughter both stared morosely down at the waters, and she wished she could do something to help them.

"Yet for all that, we're rushing towards them..." Chrom sighed out, and Robin knew that he still had his doubts about this war. With fewer Shepherds around, he could express those doubts a little. "...I pray that we'll be capable of meeting the challenge."

"I-I think you will. My understanding is that you battled with Valm before, in my time. But the war stretched out and left you exhausted... in part because of wounds you'd taken. But for all that, you're looking well. Better- urk! Than I am." Lucina gave up trying to brace herself. With a frown, Robin's fingers found her forehead, and Robin paused over the temperature she felt in her daughter's skin. It felt like there was a fever trying to dig into Lucina's blood, and burn its way outward.

But she didn't have time to question it, with how Chrom continued.

"Wounds? Were they linked at all to..."

"Your shoulder? I-I think it may have been possible. You didn't have the Emblem, and suffered far worse wounds than what you gained the night Emmeryn was assassinated. The Emblem was stolen that same night, and I think it may have left you at a disadvantage." Lucina let her breath out in a huff. "...I'd hoped I'd altered the path of events, yet Emmeryn still died in the end. It seems the future is stubborn when it comes to change."

"Maybe... yet you still bought her time. And we still have the Emblem, Lucina." Robin spoke, as Chrom gently placed a hand on Lucina's shoulder, and helped her lift her head. "I know it's easy to beat yourself up over your mistakes and wonder if you could have changed anything... but don't forget the good you've done, either."

"You've saved us, after all." Chrom pointed out.

"Th-thank you, Father. Mother. But I worry... something else could take your lives. You could still vanish..." And the bleak note in Lucina's voice caused them both to pause. "And I can't stop worrying about that possibility."

Morgan gave an uncertain noise in the back of his throat. When Robin shifted her fingers to touch at the back of his head, there seemed to be a similar jump in warmth, also in his skin. It didn't keep him from speaking however. "And as for me… I'm strapped to remember anything. But none of it sounds good."

The wind shifted, tossing Robin's bangs into her face. The breeze seemed to shift the mood as well, turning it somber.

"Then... How do I die?" Chrom's voice had taken on a heaviness as well.

"I only know rumors. You'd gone off to fight against something, trying to sway your destiny... and you fell in battle. Some say you were betrayed by your closest friend. But... no one ever found your body. There was never any ceremony of flames, and Mother..." Lucina blinked up at them both, and Robin saw how her eyes shimmered for a moment. As she listened, she felt a sorrow begin to gnaw at her chest... and something else clawing inside of her head. Some strange headache starting to grow, underneath her mussed bangs. "Mother vanished as well. All we found was blood, and the blade."

Her hands drifted down to Falchion. The ringing persisted in Robin's ears, and her hands left her children to rub at her own head, trying to push it back down. Chrom sensed the trouble, as his hand went up to rest between her shoulders. Robin tried to focus on the sensation of his touch over everything else.

"After that, the world started to go mad. Grima wasn't the only dragon in the skies." Lucina continued, still staring at the water with nausea and worry both. "Reports drifted in of another, savaging cities and turning them to ash. I... I only saw it once, when I leapt through the portal. It seemed so intent on burning us all. I only saw a flicker of it... shining a sickly blue and white- Father? Mother?"

Robin jolted out of the haze, and saw that Chrom had also gone to rub at his head. Lucina's description clicked into place, and she remembered the dragon they'd fought well over a year ago.

"Did it... could it have followed you through the portal?" Morgan spoke up instead, mirroring a hazy thought taking shape in Robin's head.

"I... I suppose so. Are you sure you're both alright?" Robin just managed a nod, as the headache finally abided.

"Maybe your parents don't have a knack for sea travel, after all." Chrom replied. "It seems to have passed, though. I think we're alright."

"Y-yes. Forgive me, I'm well. You should finish your tale." Robin provided.

"There isn't much more to say. I took the name Marth and fought back, hoping I could have the same strength as the Hero-King... but I don't need that any longer. I... I can fight as Lucina now."

"This is still a little weird to me," Morgan finally spoke up. "But you know what? If you can handle this, if Mom and Dad can handle it... I can too. And I'm not going to let a little sea sickness get in my way."

"I think I'm feeling a little better as well... not a lot, but a little. Well enough to walk around the ship a bit."

A reverse of fortunes, Robin thought, considering how tender her own head felt.

 _'You can shrug it off though. For their sakes.'_

-o-o-o-

Three tasks were at the front of Lucina's mind; keep an eye on Morgan and her parents, breathe evenly, and walk in a straight line along the ship. The first two she had a decent grasp on, but the last proved to be a bit of a struggle. A part of her envied how Chrom and Robin both managed to move with the roll of the boat; the rest of her was busy with keeping Morgan on his feet.

Walking DID have one pleasant side effect, however; it stirred a sea breeze against her face, and something about the salt air lessened the light fever trying to grip her skin.

' _A few more moments like this, and I may yet be alright.'_ She told herself, coaxing her feet forward.

They managed to reach the prow of the ship, before things took a turn for the worse. She'd almost gotten the nausea under control, before the situation was wrenched out of Lucina's grasp.

"Captain!? Captain, sir! Reporting in!" A gust of wind was their only warning, before a pegasus touched down on the ship's deck in front of them. The hooves made a heavy thud on the ground, and the pegasus gave a pained whinny.

Lucina blinked up in time to see a second pegasus land, as Sumia and Cordelia all but vaulted off their horses. A second look showed why; the flanks of both mounts were streaked with red, showing where an axe or a javelin might have just skimmed them.

Somewhere over the pegasus wings, flapping for balance or mantling defensively, Lucina heard Lissa give a small cry. The patter of feet showed she was rushing to the wounded horses, staff at the ready.

Sumia saluted to Chrom and nodded to Frederick before launching into her report, with a surprisingly stern face.

"Enemies enroute! We've spotted ships on the horizon... and they easily match us, ship for ship. What's more, most of their fleet is composed of battleships instead of transports. And if that's not enough, they look to be in combat formation."

"You… are certain of this?" Sumia nodded at Frederick's question.

"Absolutely certain; Cordelia identified the flag as one of Valm's… and I remember Robin saying we've passed into territory they might be patrolling." But for her part, Robin didn't look all that pleased to be right. Her free hand had balled into a fist, while her free one reached up to tap at her head; likely trying to hurry the planning part of her mind along, and into action.

"What about troop numbers?" Frederick pressed, eyes already scanning the horizon and trying to pick out any dots.

"Packed full, I'm afraid. They easily out number us." Cordelia spoke. "I took a count where I could... milord, I fear they can field an aerial force as well. They had scouts of their own in the air… and as you can likely see, we barely evaded open combat. Our odds are not promising."

"We need... something to negate the advantage," Robin murmured.

"You'd best think of it quickly," Basilio spoke up. "As even I can see some shapes up ahead."

Lucina bit back a curse; she saw them as well, gathering along the line between sea and sky, tightly packed together. Robin didn't panic as she watched them, however; if anything, a strange light and calculating look settled in her eyes.

"Unless... we use that against them." Robin turned fast to Cordelia. "You said they're filled with soldiers? All the way up?"

"Y-yes..." Lucina wondered over the grim smile settling over Robin's features. She still rubbed at her forehead, trying to quell that headache… but seemed to be thinking past the pain.

"Good. If we can bunch them in, that will cut down on their maneuverability. We just need something... something to disrupt them."

"How about lantern oil?" Flavia spoke up. "I've been over our supplies, anticipating something like this. And we have that in abundance. I've no doubt that you can find a use for it."

"…Woman, you scare me sometimes." Basilio muttered.

But Lucina's focus was on Chrom, with how he winced. The Emblem on his back shifted from the motion. His skin had gone a few degrees paler, and he couldn't shake a troubled look settling over his face.

"Robin..."

For her part, Robin had rooted her gaze on the distant ships. It made Lucina wonder if she'd even heard Chrom, until she finally spoke up.

"...Flavia has a point. I can see how we can make this work, and work with brutal effeciency," Robin's fingers dug into her hair, and her eyes screwed shut for a moment.

"But... Chrom, you have a point. We have to deal with the flames." Robin dropped her hand from her head, and glanced at her own scarred hand. Lucina's eyes flickered over Chrom's shoulder. She remembered the tales, the draw of flame and how form melted under heat.

"Right. It's a substantial risk." Chrom murmured, one eye still on the ships. Lucina was sure they were looming larger than before. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried."

"Mother? I... can I suggest something?" Robin paused once Morgan laid a hand on her sleeve. She tilted her head and Lucina found herself leaning forward as well, to hear what her brother had to say. "Flavia said in that poem that a red gem would calm flames... and you have Gules now, don't you? Maybe... that gives you an edge?"

Robin glanced up at Chrom, a hesitant bit of hope flickering across her face.

"He's right... we have Gules." Robin glanced on the shield, and Chrom took it from his back to look at the red gem. "It might be time to see how well that gemstone works."

Chrom nodded, a little bit of tension draining out of him… though not all, with how stiff his shoulders remained. "Alright. Just... just stay close to me then. We'll manage if we stay together and fight with the Emblem."

"That just leaves us with figuring out how to divide up the focus of the fleet. Sumia, Cordelia, can you rally the troops?"

Both riders nodded to Robin. Lucina glanced back to see that the pegasus were healed of their wounds, just a few threads of red left on their coats.

"Good. For this to work we need to keep them occupied on two fronts. Someone will need to engage their commander-"

"Me." Lucina heard the words come out of her mouth before she could think twice about them. "Let me handle it."

Robin blinked at her in surprise, and Lucina cut off her concern before she could voice it.

"Mother, I'm capable of battle, truly. I'd be proud to lead the charge." She could barely feel the sickness or fever now; with combat looming it had retreated from her body.

Even with many more eyes present and watching them, Robin still lifted her fingers to Lucina's brow. She saw a frown crease her mother's face, as she tried to figure out what had happened to Lucina's fever.

"Me too!" Morgan piped in. "You can trust me to watch Lucina's back!"

"You... you know we can hold our own, right?" Lucina murmured, praying that her mother would nod and say yes. She saw the concern fighting over her mother's face, warring the memories of Lucina's combat prowess.

"...All right." Robin finally said, dipping her head in acknowledgment. "I know you are both capable fighters... and you also appear to be in better shape than I first thought. Just be-"

"Careful? Only if you and Father do the same." A wry smile traced across Robin's face, and even Chrom managed a flash of a grin.

"Then it's decided." He said. "We'll all watch each other's backs. And if all goes well, we'll see each other soon enough back on this ship. For now, we should all make our preparations."

-o-o-o-

Outside the cabin window, Robin could just glimpse the sea.

The sun hadn't vanished, still hanging high in the sky; and yet the day had lost most of its warmth, with the promise of battle imminent. Robin shivered at the thought, rubbing her hands over her coat sleeves. Her own flesh couldn't decide if the thought of a fight chilled her, or sent a strange, burning thrill into her pulse.

It was lucky she was in an isolated cabin; no one could see the way she paced back and forth, or constantly checked the equipment on hand. The ship rolled under her feet, Robin moving with each wave. Her hand skimmed along the weapons and tomes available, checking and double checking each item. It didn't help that her focus was only half on the task.

There was still a strange, airy feeling settled in her head. Even if Lucina had left them to make her own preparations, her daughter's words still made Robin's thoughts swim.

' _Blood and blade, and white and silver dragons,'_ Strange how that stuck in the mind… Equally strange was her readiness in jumping at Flavia's idea.

' _Was that… that_ _ **was**_ _me making those plans, wasn't it?'_ Brutal as those plans were. Robin shivered over those thoughts, shaking her head back and forth-

A pair of hands closed around her shoulders, making her heart skip for an instant and her feet give a small jump forward.

"Peace, Robin! It's just me!" Chrom's voice came in, trying and failing to hide a laugh behind his words. If she hadn't heard that laugh a dozen times, Robin might have missed the way he forced the sound out, along with the breath.

He was forcing that laugh. Noticing that kept her from scowling too much, when she tilted her head to look at him. Even if she wasn't all for any cuddling when they were hours away from a fight.

"You're lucky this is a private cabin." She scolded him anyway, leaning back and bumping the back of her head against his chin. "It wouldn't do to be seen like this, right before a fight… and on that topic, is there any particular reason for the sudden hugs? Practicing a stealth maneuver for combat?"

"Actually… looking for a touch of courage and confidence." Chrom answered. With the laughter running its course, his voice had taken on a softer edge. "…It's our first battle against these Valmese forces. We're lucky that Sumia and Cordelia got away with only a few cuts."

He drew in his breath, making his hold a little tighter on her.

"I'm not going to repeat my father's mistakes. We're coming out of this fight with a decisive victory, not just a battle of attrition. Granted, I'll have you with me. And I know you'll aim for the same." The splashing of the waves outside seemed dull, as Chrom confided in her.

"And I thank the fates for that- something wrong?" He felt the way her shoulders stiffened, even before Robin shook her head.

"Just… something that came to me all of a sudden. But I think I have to disagree with the idea of things being predetermined; we're not pawns of some scripted fate. We follow our own path, our own bonds... those are stronger than any destiny set for us."

"Strong words." Chrom murmured into her shoulder.

"They're... not entirely mine, I think."

"Then who- oh..." He must have seen the way her hands drifted down to the thoron tomb, belted to her side and waiting for the skirmish.

"I still... I only remember bits and pieces, and those are like trying to remember a year old dream. But I think she told me that, or something like it, once. And I guess I must have taken her words to heart, even with everything that happened." Her hands fell away from the book, leaving it to fall back to her side. Instead they came up and traced over his hands. They'd gone tight when Robin spoke about her mother. For her part, Robin had to make an effort to lift her head.

"It… it's ok, though. I'll be okay. Remembering that won't stop me from fighting." Chrom eased his arms away from her, so she could turn around while still holding his hands.

"It was that obvious I was worried about you?"

"And logical, given how I... reacted, the last time I remembered her." This time the laugh that jumped out of him was a little more genuine.

"Pfah. You didn't turn into a dragon. I'd say that you've got a much better hand on the grieving process than I do." Despite herself, Robin's lips quirked up.

"Well... I admit I'm trying not to dwell on it too much. There will be time to search for answers when we're NOT facing down a Valmese fleet. But first…"

Robin sighed out, turning back to the cabin window. The ships had drawn much closer, and it meant that she'd have to be satisfied with her current selection of equipment. "I think it's time to stop preparing, and to draw up our battle formations. I'll see you outside."


	37. Flame and Sea

**Chapter 37: Flame and Sea**

"There they are." Robin muttered. The enemy ships formed a wall, with enough mass Robin wasn't certain even fire could pierce through. Even at this distance, she saw how their decks bristled with soldiers waiting to close. Easily matching their own fleet.

 _'And our own troops-'_

She turned her head, so her shoulder and the edge of her hood obscured their own ships from her sight. Otherwise, Robin knew her gaze would linger on Lucina and Morgan... and she couldn't afford to focus solely on them, just then.

She also couldn't afford to focus only on the man in at her side either... but Robin allowed herself one moment to brush fingers against his arm and draw strength and steadiness from his presence.

"...I wish it wasn't coming to this." She allowed herself to say. "That we'd picked a route they couldn't intercept."

"As do I..." Chrom's breath moved out in a shudder, his voice heavy. So was his hand, once it fell on her shoulder. But the grip there was reassuring, squeezing at her; only the tiniest shiver betrayed he was trying to steel himself for what approached. "But... we need to fight. And if this is to be our first battle with Valm, I will accept it. And... try not to die. I've no wish for Lucina's future to come to pass."

In that, they had complete agreement.

Yet for it being a grave battle, her heart was still calm. No boiling in her blood or pulse, nothing stirring beneath her skin. And she suspected that was thanks to a golden glimmer, brighter than any sunlight on the waves. The Emblem still held them in the right shape... and _reminded_ them it was the right form, instead of something more fierce and feral.

Their ship caught the wind and currents, pulling ahead of the main fleet. The handful of crew on their craft swarmed the rigging, putting on more sail, intent on their task of bringing the ship in closer. A handful of others vessels followed in their wake.

The opposing fleet saw the approach, and moved to intercept them. A grim smile crossed Robin's lips, as the pieces settled into their places. Yells built from the Valmese forces, pushing their own ships. And as the shouts grew, so did the speed of Robin's heart; it began to pound, picking up on the urgency.

Chrom stepped apart from her, and Robin swore she heard a low growl in his breath... and saw a glow in his eyes.

"Light the fires!" Robin's own voice snapped out, strained and urgent. A clink of flint followed, as did an acrid burn of smoke. Beneath her feet, Robin swore she heard barrels of oil shift, impatient to burn.

The fuses were lit. And the distance was closing.

An arrow thudded into the ship prow, just a few inches from where they stood.

"I'm going to take that as a sign they've seen you're on the ship." Robin reached over to Chrom, and tugged him backwards out of range as she spoke. A few more arrows found their way to the deck, as more and more of the Valmese fleet turned their attention to the ship. Robin threw up a free hand, letting her sleeve flap in the salt spray breeze.

"A-ALL OF YOU, JUMP SHIP NOW!" Robin shouted. "We'll take care of the rest! GO!"

The crew did as ordered, leaping from the railings and into the ocean. A handful of pegasus knights flew in their wake, and began pulling the sailors out of the waves. To their sides, more of the ships did the same. In place of the crew, flames whipped along the ships, and Robin winced as the heat slapped her across the face.

It was the only warning she had, before fire bloomed along the deck; just a arm's width from where she and Chrom stood.

 _'Move-'_

There was a thrum and burn in her pulse to match. Something in the fire seared into her head, and it didn't matter the fire was only just beginning to devour ships; the way the flames danced held her feet fast to the deck. All around her, the ship creaked and groaned in a way that suggested it was getting gutted by fire.

 _'MOVE! Gods help me, let me GO!'_ She screamed for her body to move, or her eyes to focus on something that wasn't flames. But she felt frozen, a prisoner in her own mind. Just ahead, came a splintering and groaning noise; the fire was eating into the ship's mast.

 _'And it's not going to save you, if you don't get out-'_ It didn't matter what sort of power her blood had; if she stayed in this form, she would burn from the flames, get crushed by the timbers of the ships, or drown in the ocean.

"ROBIN!" Chrom's voice cut into her head, and his arms wrapped around her. He pitched them both to the side as the mast splintered and crashed down. A second before it slammed into the deck, they were rolling to the side. Chrom's fingers dug into her sleeve, crushing her close to him.

The other held Gules, and she realized how he could move, even when his body felt like a furnace. Robin focused on the gem as well... and the fever began to seep out of her mind. All at once she gave a shudder, her body falling back into her control. Something squirmed between her shoulder blades, pressing against her skin and trying to flex free. It left her knees watery, and just then she was very glad Chrom was supporting her weight.

"I-I'm fine! Hurry!" She urged him. In the corners of her eyes, she could see the Valmese ships rushing up to greet them. Screams sounded in her ears as the Valmese tried to maneuver their boats away. But too slowly, with the wind driving the burning ships closer-

Chrom yanked her eyes away from the sight, once he took off for the edge of the ship. Under his feet the ship planking groaned, popped, and splintered. A split second before the deck became engulfed in fire he threw them both over the side. A crunch of ship timber followed them, and the ship sent up a massive gout of flame over Chrom's shoulder, staining the sky and clouds red.

Waves roared beneath them, and the ocean looked ready to swallow them up instead of the flames.

But it didn't, as she felt something shift in her back and spring free. Her plunge went from vertical to a horizontal blaze along the waves, her wings tucked in close as they shot away from the inferno. She heard screams and the roar of flames, tasted smoke for an instant... and then the air was clear. Chrom stretched his own wings out, but stuck within an arm's reach of her. The thick weave of her robe did little to dull the pressure of his grip, and she was certain there were claws at the ends of his fingers. He was determined to hang onto her, and guide her out of the firestorm.

With the fluid quality of her flesh, Robin found herself glad for it. She didn't _want_ to consider what staying in the firestorm would do to her control. She was fighting to fly in a straight line, as it was-

A deck all but materialized under her feet, and Robin stumbled into it.

' _Darkened wood; one of the few Feroxi ships being fielded.'_ Robin had time to think. Her knees wobbled, and she had to lean back to keep herself from crashing into the surface. The half feathered wings fanned around her, to keep her balance intact.

Once her face wasn't trying to meet the floorboards, Robin managed to spin on her heel. Her vision listed about, but managed to settle on the results of their first move.

Easily half of the Valmese fleet was swallowed up by flames. The blue of the ocean turned to deep crimson, or drowned in smoke. The ship crews fought to separate their boats from the blaze... but with little luck. Their tight formation made it impossible for them to maneuver fast enough to out pace the flames. For a moment, Robin wondered if the entire fleet would catch ablaze.

Her answer was a roar of cannon fire, thudding into the ships. The boats that had just caught ablaze splintered and sank.

"They've fired on their own ships?" Chrom whispered.

"To save the rest of them, they've sacrificed those vessels... it's actually a smart move. Not too different from our own strategy." Except perhaps for some of those sinking in full armor with strangled screams. And others roasting in the flames. Robin turned from the scene, trying to fight down a wave of nausea. Chrom wasn't quite able to do the same, falling to his knees. She felt the scales trying to creep further up her body, and Robin forced herself to wrest her mind away and look at the results on the Ylisse ships.

Well over half the fleet was gone. The ships Ylisse still possessed closed with those that hadn't caught ablaze, boarding the ships and taking the fight to them.

There was still much to do, and the rest of the Shepherds were at the fore of the fight. Glancing around, Robin realized they'd landed on one of the reserve ships, which was struggling to catch up.

…And was struggling even MORE, now that those on the deck were distracted by their presence. Many of the ship hands were giving them distance, forming an odd, isolated bubble around Chrom and herself. It was certainly enough to take off again, if she wished it.

Robin noticed how the soldiers around them were giving them a wide berth, and felt the wings in her back twitch. The rest of the Shepherds were already at the fore of the fight.

Waiting for them, and likely needing the power that now bubbled under their skin. Her wings, now that they weren't in use, melted half back into her shoulders and let the weave of her robe fall back into place.

She turned to Chrom, touching her fingers to either side of his face.

"Still with me?" He gave a shaky nod, tightening his fingers around hers… only to freeze when the talons on his fingers risked nicking her skin. With a shiver, Chrom let go of her.

"Y-yeah. We still have a battle to fight, don't we?" Chrom asked, pulling himself back to his feet.

At her nod, he shifted his grip around so he lead her by the wrist. Belatedly, Robin realized that his wings WERE still out... and that he wasn't planning on absorbing them just yet.

"Gods-!" She blurted out for a moment, just before Chrom launched them both off the side of the ship and flew towards the melee.

 _'He's getting a little too good at this,'_ she grumbled to herself, clinging onto his shoulders as he shot towards one of the standing Valmese ships. A little beyond it, she could pick out their flagship; the fighting had already spread to there. Through the smoke drifting through the air, she could just glimpse Lucina leading the charge on board. She'd already unhorsed a knight, and Morgan also had his sword ready and watching her back.

The next instant Robin had to tear her eyes away from them. The sensation of wind in her hair had coaxed her own wings back out, and Robin slipped away from Chrom to take in the aerial fights. A Valmese pegasus rider stood in the way of them and the ship. Scarlet highlights caught on the metal of her spear, angled down to run them both through.

As it turned out, steel made for a good electric conduit.

The Levin sword flashed out from the scabbard at her side, humming with energy.

Robin felt the spell snap out of her, eager to get loosed into the air. When she raised her own Levin blade, the jagged zigzag shape crackled with power. Her focus narrowed to loosing the spells, and the exhilaration of pushing herself through a smoke washed sky.

-o-o-o-

Lucina led the charge with Morgan, a near whirlwind of steel. It felt good to finally have Falchion in her hands again; the blade had been gone from them for too long, while she had to make sure her wrist wound healed properly. But it had paid off. There wasn't even a stitch of pain left now, and that nauseated feeling had left her as quickly as it came.

From how Morgan danced between blades, the same must have been true for him and his shoulder. He flashed her a quick, if shaky and strained grin, tightening his grip around the steel sword. He brought the blade up in a guard, looking down the sword.

"COME ON! We gotta set an example for the others!" He pointed to where the other children were, holding the line on the ship. To her surprise, Yarne was at the front as well. It was hard to see if he was shaking, given how he'd gained several pounds of muscle and fur. Panne was there as well, holding the line, while Virion fired arrows into the army with ruthless efficiency. Cherche fought alongside Cordelia and Sumia in the air and snapped in and out of the smoke. But all of it was defensive, and left the line at the ships rails intact. Leaving her and Morgan to cut out more space so they could advance.

"You know... it's a little hard to read the battle flow from here, but I think we've got their attention." Morgan blithely added, and ducked under an airborne throwing axe. Vaike cheerfully wrenched it out of the wood before pitching it back at the Valmese, scoring a hit. And through that, the Lucina put several steps past the enemy line and onto the opposing ship. She swore the wood creaked in a different way underfoot, and nearly shuddered from her steps.

"Just focus on getting to their commander." Lucina managed, slashing forward. She cut down a mage, dodging to the side as a wind spell tried to cut through her. Morgan shadowed her steps, scanning the fighting.

"I think that's him-!" He started to say, pointing to a figure in full, crimson trimmed armor at the rear of the ship. He didn't look like the sort scared of sinking in his armor, Lucina noticed. Completely sure of his ship, and his command of it-

But that was the only thing she had time to think. Her thoughts and Morgan's words were both interrupted by an explosion that rocked the air, and nearly took her feet out from under her. Lucina's eyes jolted up to where, many ships down the way, an inferno leapt from the Plegian and Ylisse ships. A wash of red sprang into the waiting, tight packed Valmese fleet.

"Ah-" the gasp escaped from Lucina's throat. For a moment, combat halted, and all eyes turned to blaze. But the next, the Valmese redoubled with a frenzied howl. Lucina dodged to the side when a fighter rushed her, and Morgan darted in to cut the fighter down. She didn't get to stay and see if he finished the job, busy with blocking another hit that rattled her bones and teeth. There was a desperate edge to their attackers. Now they realized the odds weren't quite so in their favor.

 _'They're about to get even less in their favor.'_ Lucina felt a strange, grim smile settle across her face. Her sword lashed out, carried her through several soldiers and left them bleeding behind her. Morgan ran hard to catch up with her, breath strangely loud in her own ears and calling for her to wait.

In the span of a breath, he'd suddenly gone oddly slow and stumbling. One moment he'd been cutting his way through, the next he staggered. Lucina opened her mouth to shout at him to make haste-

When something slowed her footsteps as well. The world tried to tilt around her, moving sluggishly. The soldiers around them, even with desperation fueling their actions, seemed to be wading through sand and slowing their swords. A hum built up in her blood as she paused and struggled to find her balance. And a pain began to blossom in her arm and echo with a throb in her chest. Morgan's left arm sagged, and he struggled to hold his sword.

"What's-" he choked out. Lucina grit her teeth, and her fingers squeezed around Falchion's hilt. Morgan must have been feeling the same, with how his vision didn't seem to focus. The sword in his hands wobbled, falling into a sloppy stance.

"Fight it back." She gritted out between her teeth, before raising her voice. "Whatever it is, fight it back! We have to-"

She saw the sword almost a second too late. She swept low to the deck and rose with an uppercut, slicing the swords master where he stood. Morgan worked in a stab as well, leaving the man bleeding out on the ground. Lucina forced herself to breathe, and felt hot air and smoke drift into her lungs. They didn't make the throbbing in her arm any better.

 _'Not now, not now!'_ Lucina yelled at her limbs, spinning as one of the few horsemen on the ships barreled towards them, spurring his horse in a clatter across the ship decks. She leapt on him, knocking him out of the saddle with her weight and a sword crashing into his armor. Her body listened for the briefest instant, right as the path to the commander opened up for her and Morgan.

She managed one step forward, leveling her sword at the commander.

The next, another ship exploded into flames, sending debris raining down on the deck. Shards of burning timber pierced the sails, lacing the air with flame that danced in her sight.

The nausea hit Lucina full force in the gut, and her head throbbed in time to the blaze of agony running through her arm. Her eye screamed, like something was trying to burn it out of the socket, and from inside her skull. The world around her burned... and her blood burned in answer.

And she began to scream.

-o-o-o-

They'd landed and pushed their way along the ship, doing their best to close into the enemy flank.

The wings grown from Chrom's back did a lot to help with that. It was the easiest thing to jump between ships, and tear into wherever the fighting needed their help.

But they were becoming less and less pressed on the outlying ships. All the fighting was getting concentrated further, onto the very flagship of the enemy.

"Good planning," Chrom rasped out. His voice had a strange echo to it, but the Emblem was doing its work, just as they prayed it would. Their dragons were both being held in check-

A scream cut across the ships. In a voice Robin knew, and sent a wrenching jolt through her heart. Chrom heard it as well, from the way his head snapped up. They rushed to the end of the ship, staring out over the scarlet turned waters. The smoke obscured chunks of the sea, while the heat wreathed the ships in a haze. In response Robin released a little more control. Her eyes squirmed for a brief blink, and then focused.

Her vision sharpened right as the wind shifted, driving away the worst of the ash and smoke. She picked out the enemy's main ship, saw the Shepherds trading blows with the soldiers ringing their commander-

Saw that someone had gotten through, nearly closing with the general... only to collapse on the deck with a blood chilling scream. Lucina clutched at her eye, her body shuddering as something wracked it with pain. From the way she screamed, it almost sounded like her eye was being burnt out.

The soldiers wanted to visit far worse on her... but Morgan held them back, just barely. His one eye was closed, and he squinted through the other. He slashed out with his blade, keeping a distance between them for a few more heartbeats. Then he collapsed to his knees as well, leaning against his sword to try and keep his head up.

The commander stalked towards them, and Robin could hear his voice roar over the flames.

"YOU TRULY THOUGHT YOU COULD TAKE US? WE ARE THE MASTERS OF THESE WAVES!" He spat at them, about to bring the blade down.

The ocean had turned to a blur. And the ship she'd been standing on had vanished.

Robin was vaguely aware that her form hung somewhere in the air, pushed along by her wings. The levin sword was still in her hands, and she stretched a hand out in front of her. Not close enough to reach her children-

But just close enough to reach the one threatening them. The line of thunder arced from the blade to her fingers. The lightening shot from her hand, devouring the space between it and the commander. He turned just in time to see the spell slam into him, knocking him to the side.

Then the ship deck was underneath her, smashing into her as Robin folded her wings and crashed into the deck. She rolled back up, seeing red as she showed her teeth at the soldiers. Her body ached from finally impacting with a ship deck.

She didn't let it slow her down.

None of the soldiers tried to close with her, as her wings mantled around her. The Levin sword hummed at her feet, and Robin snatched it up in a smooth motion, whirling back to face the commander. His helmet had been knocked aside by the thunder blast, showing a grizzled, gray haired and scarred face.

Robin lunged at him, only to be turned and thrown aside by his shield. Sparks spat off the Levin sword, uselessly jumping into the air where the sword scrapped along metal. The general braced against the attack and threw his weight into the shield, tossing Robin away. She skidded back along the deck, eyes still locked on him. Her feet bumped against Lucina's form, and Robin felt her daughter shudder.

"Not... one more... step." Robin rasped out, glaring at the commander. Damn her, her thoughts were going blurry. Drowning in the smoke and getting drunk on the flames. But her children needed her just then. Robin kept herself between the general and Morgan and Lucina-

And for a heartbeat, her thoughts snapped back into clarity. She glimpsed a shadow on the deck, and her head jerked upwards to see Chrom dropping out of the sky. He led with his blade and slammed into the general, knocking the shield from the man's grip. Robin joined him, and they rushed the general in a series of furious blows. So close to wearing him down, but the armor continued to turn their strikes.

But each clash of steel forced the general a little further from their children. A little closer to the edge of the ship.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Lucina pushing herself up with Falchion, Morgan slumped against her as his sister tried to hold him up-

"...The flank's exposed." Her ears picked out Morgan's voice, just barely murmuring. She glimpsed him raising a hand as Lucina held him up. Heat tore at Robin's back, pushing her to the side and into a roll. Chrom's talons snagged on her robe once again, taking him with her and into the tumble.

A blaze of flame shot by her, caught the general in the chest... and pushed him over the edge of the ship. He sunk into the water with a massive splash. And just like that, the fight went out of the soldiers as he was pulled into the waters. In a blink, the only thing that remained of him was a swirl of bubbles… and then nothing, with even that erased by the waves.

The blood hammering in her ears began to die, and Robin looked around. Morgan sagged all the way to his hands and knees, his spell book and sword both forgotten. Lucina's breaths came in and out in ragged sobs.

She rushed to both of them, her wings dissolving away. Chrom was by her side in an instant.

"They're not staying to fight. The ships that they can still sail are all fleeing." Chrom provided, but didn't abandon his place watching her back. "Robin, what's-?"

"I don't know! I thought they were fine, so what happened-?" she choked out, desperately grabbing both Morgan and Lucina's hands. Her fingers found their pulses, both hammering even though the battle was won.

"I-I'm sorry..." Lucina murmured, turning her head up to look at Robin. "Something went- I feel strange..."

"Gods, you're both like furnaces." Robin swore under her breath. "It's almost like-"

Her words cut out, and Chrom let out a strangled noise right when she saw their eyes. Morgan and Lucina were staring up at them both, their eyes unfocused... and the pupils gone to cat's eye slits. There was a strange glow behind their irises, almost like blue flame. The marked eyes glowed particularly bright.

A flash of skin drew her eye, and Robin saw that their clothing had both been sliced open in the fighting. Lucina's sleeve was torn open near her wrist, Morgan's gone along the shoulder. The bandages had been rent away as well, showing pale scar tissue where the Risen had struck.

Both scars cut across purple marks, blazed across their skin.

 _"I may have to revise my thoughts on fate... there might be some sort of twisted game after all.'_ The thought stirred in her brain, oddly dulled as Robin looked at the matching brands, and down at her own hand. The six eyed marks stared back at her, giving no answers.


	38. Adrift

**Chapter 38: Adrift**

"Robin, much as I enjoy winning these matches, you aren't even trying." Virion sighed over the game board. The ship rode another wave and creaked all around them, making the modified barracks cabin feel that little more cramped.

"Wh-what? Oh... sorry." For her part, Robin's gaze was listless, barely even noticing how Virion had captured her commander. Chrom could barely keep track of it himself. And the way he paced from one end of the room to the other didn't aid in his ability to concentrate.

His thoughts were completely on the aftermath of the battle... and he knew the same was true for his wife. He saw how her eyes kept going to the door beyond them.

There was a cabin past that door, mainly composed of beds shoved into the wall space. He knew that was where Morgan and Lucina both were sleeping out their fevers, away from the activity of the main rooms and shared hammocks. Just then, he didn't want to compound to their worries by having them tumble out of their usual ship hammocks... however much Morgan enjoyed hanging around in one.

 _'I hope he'll be back to it soon...'_

Chrom had left the Emblem resting on their cabin floor, and had given a quiet prayer that it would do SOMETHING to help his children. That it was doing something now, even if he couldn't see it through the shut door.

Virion caught where her eyes were going, and gave another theatrical sigh.

"I take it this won't be a good time after all, with how distracted you are?"

Robin shook her head at that, screwing her eyes shut to break her stare at the door. "It's... it's the only thing I can think to do with myself. Lissa has seen to them, Chrom and I have done what we can-"

"...They're locked into the same burden we have." Chrom groaned out as he gave up pacing and sat down. His elbows thudded against the table, rattling the board and game pieces. "Gods! I wouldn't wish this on anyone, least of all them. How are we supposed to protect them from that!?"

"Milord..." Frederick glanced up at Chrom's words, from where he was seeing to the condition of a spear. Not the same silver one, Chrom knew. That had broken long ago, and he was making do with one of lesser quality. Sumia sat next to him, while Lissa helped her with saddle repair.

"Chrom, I won't say don't worry. But don't worry as much." Lissa said. "They ARE your kids, after all. They're equal to the burden, and if they're anything like you, they're also stubborn enough to keep going."

Chrom snorted at that... but didn't argue.

"But... do you need some time to think everything over?" Sumia spoke up. "The rest of us can see to the situation on the ships, double check to see if anything else needs attention."

The waver in her voice showed that his own nerves were getting to Sumia, with her second guessing things. Chrom forced himself to nod; the others might benefit being away from their mood for now.

"Yeah..." Robin dipped her head. "I... I feel it should be me seeing to the preparations for our route, but-"

"But need I remind you, I am used to seeing to such things." Frederick answered, standing up and guiding Sumia to the door. "I believe I've enough authority and experience to manage a collection of soldiers. If our situation does change, I'll send a messenger to let you know."

"And I'm certain I can be of assistance, if my string of glorious victories is anything to go by." Virion added, climbing to his feet. Robin rolled her eyes, but didn't argue the point. The others followed Frederick out with a few nods to Chrom and Robin.

And left them alone, with their own worries. With a little more space in the cabin, Robin took up Chrom's role of pacing about.

"I..." Robin murmured, her voice crestfallen, and urged Chrom over to where she paused. Robin's hand rested on the door, half tempted to open it, even if their children needed rest, and to ride out the fever they were in.

"You're still tense." Chrom supplied. "Even with the battle over."

Robin winced at that, closing her eyes. It didn't keep a few frustrated tears from spilling out from the corners of her eyes.

"Can you blame me? Chrom... it's _my_ mark they're carrying, and is damaged. Naga's Brand is in their eyes and unmarred, I've seen that. I can't help but feel-"

"It's not your fault." He whispered fiercely, drawing her close and holding her tight against him. "Don't EVER think that, love. Loathe as I am to say it, Lissa raised a good point. What we have to do is be there for them... and find a way to set things right."

She froze in his grip for an instant, before finally relaxing and slumping against him. She twisted a little in his grip, turning so she could bring her arms up and wrap them around his back.

"That, I can promise to do." Robin whispered back. Her voice was rough around the edges, and muffled with how her head rested against his shoulders. "I-I meant it when I said I'd fight for Lucina's future. I mean that more than ever, now."

Chrom pressed a thumb against her chin, raising her head. There was still something vulnerable in her eyes, when she met his gaze. By reflex he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. Gentle at first, then with an urgency as he tried to express what he couldn't in words; that he was glad she was with him, that he needed her strength and mind just then... not just for the war, but to keep himself steady.

He swore she was kissing him back just as desperately, and for what could have been the same reasons. When they broke apart for air, she leaned forward and touched her cheek to his.

"Love... I'm glad more than ever you don't sit idly by." He admitted. "I'd be in a poor situation without you."

"And the same goes for me. I-"

"Ahem! Well. It's nice to see you've found your resolve again," Chrom jolted upright to see Virion looking at them. A blush burned its way across his face; Robin's cheek was just close enough to his to get a similar sense of heat.

"Were you-!?" Robin sputtered out, only for Virion to wave off her concerns.

"Watching? Perish the thought. I only came in on the tail end of your sweet-somethings. Fear not, it is only imperative news that drives me. I thought you might like to know of our landing situation, given how swiftly Cherche informed us."

Robin leveled an icy look at Virion, one that screamed 'this is payback for not giving that match my all, isn't it.' But she still managed a nod, and motioned to the cabin.

"Gather who you need for the briefing, and meet us here. I get the feeling we'll be needing the maps."

With that, Chrom did what he could to prepare. He managed to gather the game pieces without crushing any of them, his hands blessedly steady. When he lifted his head from storing the game board, Robin and Virion were already seated at the table and swept the surface clean.

Cherche had joined them as well, and Gregor sat nearby, eyes on the maps Robin had already rolled out. Chrom took his seat, looking over the first diagram.

Valm's coast was on display, and Virion was meticulously placing a few wooden markers in the blue inked ocean.

"Sir, I regret to inform you that our first choice for a harbor is out." Cherche began, pointing at the northern cape of Valm. "While the harbor there can easily take all of our ships... the Valmese also have a strong hold on it. The ships that could escape our first battle fled back there, and as a result they are firmly entrenched."

"Is not a good option, meeting them head on there." Gregor spoke. "Gregor has enjoyed a few skirmishes in Valm... can easily tell you that harbor is well guarded. Also, sand. Can be a nightmare to wade through."

"What other options do we have?" Robin traced an x through the harbor with her finger, and Chrom mentally struck it from possibility as well.

"Smaller harbor, for starting." Gregor jabbed a finger further south. Chrom picked out a small inlet drawn on the map. "Is not optimal for our needs and means more hours of sailing... but also is not commanding strong military presence. Also! Gregor has been keeping ear to ground, and things heard are most promising,"

He motioned for Cherche to continue.

"The area hasn't fallen to Walhart yet. We won't have to worry about transporting ships and fending off attacks at the same time, with any luck."

"And need I remind you, we will still have to contend with the Valmese cavalry once we make landfall. Luckily for us, the surrounding area is full of rocks, hills and seaside cliffs." Robin nodded at Virion's words.

"Yes, I see... that negates their ability to charge easily. Even if they DO catch wind of what we're doing, they won't be able to attack quickly, or effectively. What about the people holding out?"

"In that... alas, I cannot be certain. Cherche and I are of Rosanne, and while we've had dealings with the people of the area, they also tend to keep their distance and maintain cool relations."

"In short, is very much a nation of Lon'qus. Or perhaps better saying, Lon'qu is prime representation of area." Gregor chuckled... but not too loudly to disturb any sleepers next door, which Chrom gave him a grateful look for. Robin just gave him a bewildered blink. "Ah, you not know? Swordsman may have Feroxi pride, but is also Valm by birth. Chon'sin, in being specific."

"But we have no way of knowing just how friendly the Chon'sin people will be." Chrom spoke. His eyes flickered between the two landing areas. "Robin... what's your call on this?"

"To be honest... I think we should aim for Chon'sin. We'll have to take our chances with however distant they might be." Chrom nodded along.

"About in line with my thoughts. We'll put out sails for that harbor, then."

"Very well then, Gregor and I can spread the word to the ships." Cherche said, already standing.

"Heh! Gregor would be more than happy to be spending time with lovely lady!" Was Gregor's answer, following a chuckling Cherche out to the ship. Virion began to rise as well, moving towards the door while he hummed something... only for Robin to raise a hand and stall him.

"I-I'm sorry Virion, but I was curios about that song you were humming. It sounded familiar."

"Given it's about the two of you in a roundabout way, it would be."

"Wait... you mean THAT'S the song?" Chrom spoke up. "That's the one people learned, during the war against Gangrel?"

"Hm hm, yes indeed. Last I checked, 'eyes of blue, fiery hue' is accurate enough with describing you. And of course everyone learned it; since I DID aid in composing it, after all."

"It was just... a bit different from the usual Ylisse tales, with the snatches I heard." Chrom admitted. "I guess that might be why it caught like wildfire, since it had novelty going for it."

"Well, I do borrow from the best. I took cues from my own homeland tales, particularly the bit about flying through a star sky and listening for those in distress. That one is oft repeated to young ones- what is it?" Robin and Chrom were both staring at Virion now.

"You... have stories about dragons too?"

"I think most places do. We just add a touch of veneration to it as well. Perhaps in better times, you may well have been welcomed as revered figures in Valm... at least until they saw how easily I bested you at a board game. BUT even then, you would likely be held in esteem."

"I... Virion, you're saying there's tales of people like US?" Robin whispered out, and finally the archer appeared to catch her meaning.

"...Aye. I cannot tell you how many of them are true, but in Valm there are plenty of stories about dragons and people working together. Mostly, it is seen as a good or a noble thing to happen."

"I... thank you, Virion. For telling us about that." Robin managed, voice with a curiously high and soft pitch.

"'Tis nothing to thank me for." He must have seen the look passing between her and Chrom, as he stood up. "Now if you will pardon me... I am wondering if I may spot Panne in the mess. I'd promised her I'd assist with cutting carrots and ensuring no potatoes go into tonight's meal."

He made his leave, as Chrom stared down at Robin. Carefully, he took up her hand.

"Are you thinking...?"

"That we might find some answers, either for us or for our children? Gods, I hope that it's possible. We've another reason to be in Valm, now." Chrom nodded at that, his wife's words mirroring his own hopes.

There was a personal stake in this, now. And for a change, the idea of making landfall in Valm didn't give him a sense of dread.

A gentle silence began between them, aiding them in threading their fingers back together-

Only to get cut short as the bedroom door lurched open, and two blue haired figures sprawled out on the floor.

"Ow ow ow Lucy get oooooooff!" Morgan squeaked from underneath his sister.

"I TOLD you not to lean against the door to hear better!" She shot back, trying to roll off of him. And mostly failing, keeping them in a tangle of limbs.

It took a full second for Chrom to realize what they'd been up to.

"You... you were eavesdropping!" Chrom blurted out, staring at his children. They'd finally managed to untangle, with Morgan sitting on the floor and Lucina trying to clamber to her knees. They both looked a little wobbly, but a quick glimpse showed that their eyes were back to normal.

"Overhearing, initially. Then listening in, but only to try and figure out how we can help!" Morgan pointed out. Lucina opened her mouth to say something too, only for Robin to cut her off.

"...Absolutely not. I want you both to remain off the front lines until we determine what is wrong with you."

"Mother!" Lucina protested. "We're not children- that is, we are but we aren't SMALL children. We know what's happening to us; we can fight as well. You saw that we held our own in battle…"

She trailed off, unable to embellish too much and forced to add on, "At least, until the Brands activated. But that was only in that last battle; surely it doesn't negate our prior experience?"

Chrom frowned as he looked at them.

"I'm inclined to agree with Robin... I heard you screaming, and saw you almost get cut down. I don't want to see something like that happen again. I don't want to risk-"

"And I... I heard of _you_ dying." Lucina dared to interrupt. "I don't want THAT to happen again, while I still have power to prevent it. We're under the same burden as you now; let us shoulder some of it."

Robin paused as she listened to their daughter speak. Chrom couldn't find words to counter that either... and he couldn't help but remember when his own brand first activated. The rush of power and energy, and how hard it was to contain it. Staying or idle would have been a nightmare.

Lucina rubbed at her wrist, a little agitation making the tips of her fingers twitch.

' _She's risked a lot already, trying to protect us.'_

"It... this isn't going to go away on its own, now that we have it." Lucina continued. "Please, let us fight with you!"

"Um, besides... if you've got us next to you, and closer to the Fire Emblem, that SHOULD make us safer than we'd be away from it, right? Right?" Morgan added in, and Chrom rubbed at his forehead. The boy DID have a point.

"...They get this from your half of the family, don't they." Robin groaned out, massaging her own temples. "I... I will THINK about it... if you both agree to continue to rest up."

Morgan and Lucina exchanged just a glance, before all but leaping back into the beds.

-o-o-o-

The morning was gray and cloaked in mists. The cliffs of their new harbor rose up like giants from a foggy, shrouded coastline, visible even from a distance. The bobbing of the ship made the rocks appear as if they were growing from the sea, and pushed a certain nausea back into Lucina's stomach. Morgan wavered a bit at her side, leaning against the rail.

Both of them tried to stand up straight any time their parent's eyes fell on them, though. Three days of bedrest was all Lucina thought she could handle.

' _Otherwise I'd be ready to throw myself over the side of the boat, and pray I get wings.'_ Or grab a pegasus and apologize to Sumia and Cordelia about it, later.

"The best we can say from here is that there's a fishing village." Sumia herself was speaking to Chrom and Frederick. Lucina leaned in a little closer to listen, keeping one eye on the shore. She COULD just pick out orange lanterns hung from long docks, jutting out from a blurred shoreline.

"It might be best to send out advanced flyers." Robin spoke up. "Before we commit our fleet to landing there. The fact is, we need to investigate how these people may receive us... and I'd prefer not to put a navy on their front doorstep, before contacting them."

Nods greeted that plan, and Lucina heard the steps of Sumia shuffling towards the pegasus' holding area.

"And how many do we send out?" Chrom stood near the front of the ship, eyes fixed on the far shore.

"Sumia, Cordelia and Cherche for starters, and they can carry another passenger as an escort... and I want to observe the field myself." Robin answered. "And I can guess you want to accompany me?"

"Aye; I don't want to send anyone on a mission I won't undertake. And that should give us a scouting group of about eight-"

"And us!" Lucina spoke up. Chrom almost flinched from her words, and gave her a stricken expression. But Morgan gave an agreeing nod to back her up. She expected Robin to add in some points, but instead she watched her children, gauging and weighing her options.

Both of her parents hadn't yet protested the idea, however.

Lucina decided to try and push them to an outcome that would suit her and Morgan. And hopefully ease that worried look both parents were giving them.

"But... I've had practice on a pegasus as well. You need extra eyes out there to spot details, and mine work. So do Morgan's! And as we said, if you have us stay near the Emblem, the safer we'll be."

Morgan nodded to that.

"Mother... please? I want to look after you, as well." Robin's expression wavered... and finally softened as she dipped her head.

"You make your point, Lucina... but I want you to be flying close to us. And let's pray that none of us need or get extra wings." She gave a sigh, and forced laugh. "I also worry that if I forbid it, you'll just steal a pegasus anyway and apologize about it later. So I'd prefer to skip that step."

Lucina tried not look too astonished. Or ask if her mother had any mind reading abilities she didn't know about.

"I seem to remember you being more than self sufficient, before you joined the Shepherds." Robin pointed out. "There's… no reason for that to have changed now. Even if I still worry."

Chrom gave an agreeing hum to that, before adding.

"…Just be careful out there. And let's all pray this stays a routine scouting mission."


	39. Landfall

**Chapter 39: Landfall**

The scouts moved like ghosts through the mist. Thick, wet air muffled the wing beats of the pegasus riders, and the odd wyvern scouting on their flanks. The gray tendrils helped mask the white mounts against a steel colored sky. It let them glide in close, drawing towards the shore line and the town hugging the beach.

Robin's eyes swept over the buildings, the roof lines rising like mountains from the fog. Orange lights flickered from their windows, or glowed out from lanterns hung in the eaves.

 _'Curious designs on those buildings, too.'_ But far more curious was how still everything was.

"There should be fishing boats and people out by now...shouldn't there?" She murmured. Chrom leaned over her shoulder, squinting his eyes to try and make out any sign of activity. He hummed in agreement, a hand tensing on her shoulder. Through it all, the village remained eerily silent and still.

Robin shifted in the saddle, trying to get a better view. And any hint that this town was occupied by more than ghosts. Something tickled in the back of her throat, and her breath rasped out in a cough. There was something familiar in that acrid taste filling her mouth-

"Smoke!" She wheezed out. A second later, she heard the clash of steel, and raised voices.

"Ah, gods... I know that sound-" Chrom whispered out. Combat echoed down on them, and the mist parted enough to show raised cliffs above the village.

The pegasi veered upwards, forced to churn their wings to keep from crashing into the rock walls. Robin leaned against the neck of her own mount, and the saddle horn jabbed into her stomach. Chrom crouched low in the saddle, his weight pressing against her. Just as bile started to form in Robin's throat from the jolting climb, the cliff faces fell away, showing a flat plateau perched up top. The mist thinned around them, pulling away like a veil.

With the thinning of the fog, it seemed like a mass of soldiers materialized out of the gray shrouds. They formed a dark swath, two glimmering waves crashing against each other. Each clash pushed the defending line further towards the cliff's edge. Some of them wore high quality armor, others in whatever they could cobble together, and desperately trying to hold off the attackers.

At least now they had their answer to what happened to the villagers. They were the ones in the most make-shift armor, sticking to the few well equipped troops in their numbers.

"They're badly pressed..." Lucina called out, and even at the distance, Robin saw how her daughter's hands clenched into fists, ready to grip steel and fight.

"I see Walhart's banners!" Cherche raised her voice and called down to Robin and Chrom. "Fighting the defenders, and trying to push past to capture the village!"

At her back Chrom tensed, and each breath he took pushed a shiver into his arms where they wrapped around her. By reflex, she rested a hand over his. But she kept her eyes on the field. She counted around ten score of troops under the Valmese banner; a skirmish group, but a well equipped one. Which would eagerly overrun the defending force, if left alone.

"We've no choice," Chrom said, voice pitched low. "They need our help NOW if they're going to survive this battle."

That decided, Chrom raised his voice. "Sumia, get back to the ships and send whatever troops you can! The rest of you, get ready to fight!"

His eyes locked with Lucina for a moment, motioning for her and Morgan to fly closer. Robin clicked her teeth shut, stopping her own words short. She wanted to order Lucina and Morgan back to the ship-

But she also had eyes, and could count the forces on the cliff all too well. Even at this distance, the vivid heraldry of Valm and Walhart's banners was hard to miss. They needed fighters when they made their landing.

Chrom knew that too, with what he called out to them.

"Keep close. We'll tackle this one together." Lucina managed a nod.

-o-o-o-

Lucina's heartbeat hammered up to speed once they touched down. She understood the basics of riding, but not so much how to fight in the saddle. From what she saw, Robin didn't seem very comfortable with it either.

 _'...Maybe because she can fly on her own power instead of relying on something else.'_

Lucina didn't think she was imagining the way Robin's eyes trailed back to the sky. Her own eyes tried to turn back to the clouds. Lucina forced them shut and took a deep breath, reminding herself there was no time for such indulgence. When she opened them, she glimpsed Morgan twitching at the shoulders and turning his head from the sky.

"Remember what we're here for," she reminded him. "Mother and Father need to know we have a place alongside them." Not sheltered, and going mad from inaction. She wrenched her thoughts and eyes from the sky, and instead watching the backs of her family.

She leapt from the saddle, drawing Falchion before her feet touched the ground.

 _'I can fight.'_ She told herself. _'Flying or longing for a sky you've never stretched wings to doesn't matter, next to that.'_

Around her, the other Shepherds dismounted. Virion had also flown over on Cherche's wyvern, and even now the archer was glancing around.

"My dear vassal has the right of it. We've strode into the middle of a border skirmish... and it seems the conqueror is eager to bring this territory under his heel, given the size of army he's sent scouting ahead. "

"Then we don't allow them a step further," Lucina growled.

She brought the blade up with a sureness, stepping towards the mass of soldiers stirring up dust and adding beige to the gray morning fog. She could do this, Lucina told herself-

Right as it began again. A sharp pain jabbed in her left eye; it burned her vision to a bright white, the colors washed out in favor of a searing brilliant flame. The soldiers lost their clarity, their edges turning into wispy, bright burns. She screwed her eye shut, trying and failing to stop the pain. It spread into her temples, and she ground her palm against her face to try and make it stop throbbing.

 _'No, no! Not again!'_ The roar of battle was impossibly loud and... and damn her, her hands were shaking like she was a raw recruit. Morgan was at her side, wincing as well. His right eye was shut, and he had a pained expression that was a near mirror for her own.

"Oh..." Robin's whisper drifted into Lucina's ears, followed by a hand resting on her own head. Considering the fight almost upon them, Robin's touch was absurdly gentle. "You're marks... they're reacting to the battle, aren't they? This... this was what I was afraid of."

"I can fight!" Lucina protested. Morgan gave a pained, but agreeing noise.

"I know." Robin sighed, sounding loath to concede the point.

"And at the moment we need you to do just that... but not with swords." Lucina blinked as Robin drew a book from the saddlebags of her own pegasus, and pressed it into Lucina's hands. Through her blurred vision, she saw a strange, sad light in her mother's eyes. And... guilt as well? Robin wouldn't fully look her in the eye as she spoke.

"You have my blood... for better or worse. And with it, you must have some of my power and aptitude as well." Lucina stared down at the book, picking out a spell symbol that seemed to radiate a golden light.

"I..."

"In the future, did you ever learn spell craft from me? Any at all?" Against her will, her mind was yanked years back.

 _Her mother had been able to spend a small amount of time with her, back from the front on Valm. It was a cold winter night outside, a snow squall howling at the windows. But inside, her mother and father sat close to her and Morgan. Her mother took Lucina's hand, still small in her own, while Chrom sat by and picked out some of the ancient script in the Fire Emblem to Morgan. Her mother whispered words in a strange, ancient tongue that could have been the sister of the Emblem's script. Lucina echoed them back... and stared as a flame sprung to life in her hands._

"...Yes." Lucina wrenched herself away from the memory, staring Robin in the face. There were fewer worry lines around her mother's eyes now... but there was a sense of urgency there that she'd never seen before. Robin nodded. Beyond her a few of the troops had taken notice of her presence.

"Good. This takes a greater chance then I'd like... but it will hopefully work. Shadow Chrom and me, but at a distance. Engage with spells, and DO NOT put yourself further at risk." Lucina wanted to protest; she was here to fight-

"Understand? Believe me, this will be dangerous enough. I don't want it to get to the point where it acts as a catalyst for you and Morgan." Chrom had drifted in to her vision, obscuring the fight for a moment. And looking ready to send them straight back to the ship if he didn't hear an agreement.

"I... I understand." Lucina said. Robin turned to Chrom, taking point with him as they rushed the enemy. The air thrummed for an instant as the riders mounted back up and took to the air. She swore Robin's shoulders twitched in answer to the wing beats... but her mother stayed in her own shape, eyes straying to the Emblem at Chrom's arm.

"Ready, Lucy?" Morgan stuck to her side, feet scrapping the dirt and sounding ready to push forward on her prompt. In answer, Lucina jammed Falchion back into the scabbard. She raised her hand and heard Morgan's sleeve flap in the same motion. In her other hand, a charged breeze pushed the cover open and set the pages to flapping.

-o-o-o-

She didn't have much in the way of time to glance back at her children. With battle, she couldn't afford to think of them as her children; they were troops and soldiers, the same as those all around her, and counting on her for the right call.

Robin's eyes swept the front lines, trying to find the best spot to attack. She and Chrom marched steadily, and she knew he was scanning the lines same as her.

"Robin, there!" She snapped to where his hand pointed, at a cluster of fighting; a knot of troops holding against infantry and cavalry flying the Valmese colors.

The figure leading the troops cut a sharp contrast. While others had opted for scale armor or leather, she preferred violet and pink robes. She glided between strikes like moonlight on the water, and returned the attacks with deadly precision.

"Chrom... I think we've found at least one leader standing against Walhart." Robin spoke up. He spared her a brief nod, before rushing towards the figure. Robin fell into step alongside him. She drew the Levin blade back out, noting that the last battle had left it with a few more notches from hammering against so much armor. But that didn't dull the hum in her bones. Robin took as deep a breath as she could manage with their run, and then called down a bolt of thunder. It crashed into the enemy line with a sizzle. The spell energy flared bright for one instant, acting as an impromptu banner for their own soldiers to rush towards.

The pegasus riders harried the flanks of the Valmese, driving their edges into disarray with a few well placed spear strikes. At their backs, Robin's ears picked out the crunch of extra feet on the ground; the first wave of soldiers must have arrived, to bolster their numbers.

Now they just needed to hold or drive the line of Valmese troops back-

The cool air spiked in temperature. It was Robin's only warning, before tongues of scarlet flame sprang up from the grass.

 _'A- a fire spell!? But… I thought I'd given them thunder tomes-'_

The swarm of fire leapt around them, slicing between clusters of Valmese troops. Robin screwed her eyes shut, before the sight of flames burrowed into her brain. Her ears picked out the screams and cries for some units to withdraw. But her own feet stayed rooted to the spot. Chrom's shoulder bumped against her side, and the Emblem nudged her arm. For a moment the ringing in her head stopped, and Robin opened her eyes to take in the battle field.

They'd torn their way closer to the pink robed figure. The swords woman blinked at the sudden wall of flames before shouting for her own soldiers to give up some ground. The maneuver worked; the fires may have scorched the hems of her robes, but they also gave the woman and her troops breathing room.

A few Valmese troops had either shoved their way through, or jumped forward and clear of the flames. Their armor and weapons were streaked with the soot from burning grass, and rain began to fall, adding to the smoke and haze.

It made the vivid colors of the swords woman's robes stand out that much more. Her own blade flashed bright against the overcast sky. It acted as a rallying point, as she glanced about to call her own soldiers close-

That was when she saw the Shepherds. Her eyes fell on Chrom, widening in confusion; her gaze lingered on him, trying to make sense of what she saw. The pause left the swords woman's side exposed, and a fist of the Valmese forces tried to strike her, overwhelming her foot soldiers.

Chrom wasn't about to let that happen, sweeping in under the blades. He closed with one Valmese fighter. Another tried to catch him off guard… but didn't account for Robin stepping in front of the blade swing, glaring at the wielder. He was just as content to run HER through instead of Chrom...

"Not going to happen." She dropped the Levin blade, reached a hand out, and caught the blade with it. The swordsman stared as she wrenched it aside. No blood fell from her hand... but a small flicker of flame rose up into the air, running off the edges of the scales that now coated her hand and arm like chainmail. She spun the sword in her grip, bringing the handle into her hands. The blade was of long make, just like the killing edges Lon'qu so favored. Long reach, but light in her hands. The man barely had a chance to blink, before she'd cut through him.

And just like that, they found themselves standing with the woman leading her troops. The soldiers fell back in front of them... but the woman herself was made of sterner stuff. She faced them, blade leveled on them.

"Friend or foe?" She shouted to them.

"Foe of Walhart, friend to anyone against him!" Robin answered, as she raised her arm to parry a strike. The Valmese weren't going to give them room to talk. So their actions would have to speak for them. Robin ducked low again, while Chrom charged in. The scales sank easily back into her arms as Robin watched him, and scooping her sword back up she followed him into the enemies-

A ringing of steel drew her eye, and she saw that the swords woman was right beside them.

"I've never seen your faces before. Who are you...?" The woman began to say, when her eyes fastened on Chrom's brand. Recognition flashed across her face, and she looked beyond them to see the ships in the harbor.

A horse's scream beat down on their ears. Robin winced, and turned her head to see a warhorse rearing and spinning around. A pair of heels dug into the animal's sides, spurring it forward and leaping over the flames.

The figure on its back was dressed in a brilliant and polished armor set, and the headdress, soot and fire marked as it was, still streamed from his helmet. He glared through the slits in his helmet down at Robin and Chrom.

"Looks like their general took notice of us." Chrom muttered, gripping his sword. His arm stayed human, save for a hint of scales. It would probably be enough to unhorse a man… but the other cavalry falling in around the general made Robin pause.

 _'Scales or not, this is more than likely going to hurt-'_ The horses screamed and stamped, lunging underneath their riders into a charge. Eating the ground under their hooves, and the riders all leveling spears or swords at their small group.

They intended to ride them down, and the general was screaming for his own men to fall in and take care of what remained-

He might have succeeded in that maneuver, if not for a bolt of something bright slamming into his side, harder than any arrow had any right to be. He toppled from his horse with a gurgle, and the cavalry charge broke into a disarray of panicking horses.

-o-o-o-

 _'A fire and a snowy room.'_ The memory played over and over in her head, banishing any hesitation as Lucina lifted her hand and readied the first spell.

Fire sprang outwards from her hand. A step carried her closer to the front line, and the stream of fire grew. It turned from a flicker to a torrent of flames, slamming hard into the front line. Lucina gaped at the spell; she'd NEVER cast something with that effect.

 _'Again,'_ whispered a thought in her ear. The pages of the book fluttered open, moving with her where she spun around on her heel. She didn't so much as blink when the pages smoldered at the edges, the paper smoking and straining from the odd currents of magic she was calling up.

Spell script followed the arc of her hand as she turned, the currents of magic pushing her along and humming with a beautiful bone deep voice through her. The flames danced in a graceful arc through the air, restricted by nothing; not distance, nor steel from the armor of the troops. Even the downpour did nothing to quell the fire, as the misty skies thundered around them.

The elements were all hers, the voice continued to urge in Lucina's brain. Her birthright, her own servants to command...

"El. Fire." Morgan's voice was strange, a distant quality in his words. His own fire spells had a fierce bite to them, and the roar of the flames washed out the shouts and screams from the enemy troops. Lucina locked eyes with him just once... and saw a familiar spark in his eyes, now both wide open. It was something she felt in her own gaze.

Almost as one mind, their hands stretched out and called up the flames. The fire that had caught along the grass rose like a wall, cutting a line through the Valmese troops. The horses were screaming and shying from the flames now, as were the rank and file. The shouts of the generals did nothing to turn them back to charging. Most were running in the opposite direction now.

The one leading the force screamed curses at them, urging them to turn back and fight. He yelled that they were about to win and the addition of outlanders would do nothing to change that. Rallying his men for another charge-

"...Amateur," Morgan bit out the word as an insult, and Lucina thought much of the same. He was becoming a nuisance. She stretched her hand out all the way, staring down the line of her arm and finger as it pointed to the commander. Morgan did the same.

A line of fire, this time a single pinprick instead of a burst shot out from them. All the fire was concentrated into that one thin shot flame. The center of it burned so bright it hurt to look at... and like a molten arrow, it pierced the armor of the general.

He fell slack from his horse, and that broke the last of the morale. Lucina felt her lips tug up, showing her teeth in a feral grin as she watched them break and run. She could send a little more flame on their heels, to spur them along-

 _'...no...'_ a feeble thought pushed against the haze growing around her. This WASN'T what she wanted; she came to protect her family, not visit pain and death on her enemies-

"Stop it-!" Morgan bit out at the same moment. Lucina wrenched her head away from the soldiers.

"LUCINA!? MORGAN!" Chrom shouted, drawing her eyes. The Emblem was strapped to his arm, and the haze dissipated in her mind as she caught sight of it.

The spell book fell from her hands, bursting into flame as the magic she'd drawn from it took alight. Morgan dropped his as well, and the tomes both smoldered against the damp grass.

She glimpsed the thunder symbol on the cover. Not fire, but they'd somehow channeled that magic. The books continued to crackle from the fire eating through them, and erasing the evidence of what she and Morgan had done.

-o-o-o-

The Valmese troops had all but evaporated. Most of them melted away into the mist, withdrawing the lick their wounds. It was clear in the eyes of the survivors that their priorities had changed; going from offensive, to just getting out alive.

Robin sighed, gathering her breath back before pulling her gaze up to Chrom. And just beyond him, their children. Lucina half fell and half sat on the grass, looking drained from the spell work she'd pulled off. Morgan slumped down, shivering and clutching at his arms to try and get them to hold steady.

Her own skin itched, and she ran a hand over her robe sleeve. Underneath the scales disintegrated, or faded back into the flesh of her arm. Chrom stood beside Morgan and Lucina, knees trembling but still holding him up.

"L-Lucina?" Robin whispered, but her daughter still lifted her head. A lost look haunted her eyes, and she pointedly had her head turned away from the remains of the spell book.

"How did you-?" Robin couldn't keep from asking, before a new voice cut her off.

"Well met, Ylisseans. You come at an opportune time." The swords woman's voice drifted in. When she wasn't shouting battle orders, Robin picked out a sight accent to her words. A touch different from anything she'd heard, with a slight echo of Lon'qu's voice.

The men parted around her as she stepped towards them, holding out a hand. There was still caution traced across the soldiers faces, but they began to lower their weapons. Robin blinked over how quickly the woman had identified them, until she saw how the leader's eyes rested on Chrom. The mark was easily visible on his shoulder.

Her gaze and motion tugged Chrom forward, switching places with Robin.

"And... I have a shrewd guess on whose side you've thrown in with." The swords woman continued. Chrom dipped his head at that.

"We're no friends of Walhart... we've come to aid the fight against him, and the threat he poses." As he spoke, Robin held her arms out; giving Morgan and Lucina something to pull themselves up. They both took it, trying to brush the stray grass from their clothes. A sudden breeze helped pick some of the grass free, and Robin twisted to see where it came from. A squash of footsteps on the muck also came to her ears.

"A shame this couldn't have happened in a dryer place- AH! Lady Say'ri; the tales were true, in speaking of your prowess I see." Virion said. Chrom gave a sigh, sounding relieved that someone else had come to draw eyes. Robin just managed to glimpse Virion and Cherche landing on the field.

The archer leapt easily from the wyvern, even executing a graceful bow as he did so.

"Forgive us for the sudden arrival. But suitably dramatic and well timed one, if I do say so myself."

"Roxanne...? We truly are living in interesting times." Say'ri raised an eyebrow at him.

"We return to our homeland to fight for it... and as you can plainly see, we do not arrive alone and unarmed."

"...Hm." Say'ri's eyes flickered over them all, resting on Chrom and his family. Morgan was trying to nudge a smoldering tome aside with his toe. Lucina did her best to stand up straight and meet Say'ri's eyes. Robin squeezed at her hand, and seemed to quiet the tension in her.

"Well then," Say'ri continued. "Whatever your purpose here may be, you have our thanks for throwing off the initial wave. They'd hoped to gain a foothold in Chon'sin... and I fear this will not be their last attempt."

"It seemed like a small force..." Morgan said, and prompted Robin to add.

"They weren't trying for a full scale invasion just yet, were they?"

"Fie! It insults me to say it, but no. They were testing for weakness with an initial force. But we'll have to contend with their main army marching on our borders, soon enough."

"...We can help with that." Chrom spoke up, moving forward. Once again, Lucina shadowed his steps, her hand falling away from Robin's. Robin tried to match her pace as well, and Morgan still content to walk with her.

They could show a unified force, Robin thought.

"Ylisse will be next to fall, if Valm topples completely and into his control. If you would have us... we would gladly ally ourselves with you." Chrom held his free hand out as he spoke.

Say'ri turned her measuring glance to it.

"...If nothing else, we owe you a debt of hospitality for defending our borders. You may bring your men ashore." She spoke against the murmurs form her own soldiers. Robin's fingers gave a twitch, reminding her that there were no scales on them now.

But Say'ri and her men had to have noticed during the fight. Virion's words came back to her; that if nothing else, she and Chrom would be a subject of interest across Valm.

"But I cannot grant you alliance just yet. That is not my promise to give... otherwise I would offer it immediately." Say'ri gave a brief huff of frustration. "We require strength such as yours if we are to win this war, and I would like to convince my family of that. For the time being, at least be welcomed to Chon'sin as guests, if not as allies... yet."


	40. Ritual

**Chapter 40: Ritual**

One step was all it took to banish anything of the desert. The ruins seemed to eat anything warm and bright; the sunlight instantly dimmed past the carved stone doors. And the desert heat and dryness was swallowed up, leaving a bone deep chill.

Validar savored the transition, motioning with a hand for the doors to swing shut behind him. His fingers were one of the only sources of warmth in the closed air. The doors obeyed him with a ponderous groan, and a thud that echoed into the depths of the caverns and ruins.

Gradually his eyes adjusted to the pinpricks of candle light that dotted the halls. Only a handful of torches were light; any more brightness was seen as an affront, and a disturbance to the one who slept below. Down beneath the very foundations of these ruins.

Validar didn't turn to see if it was Grimleal, or something else that moved the doors. He'd well learned at this point not to question anything unseen.

Particularly upon hallowed ground such as this.

There wasn't much in the way of Grimleal at this place; not yet, at least. There would be a time to call more, but only with the perfect alignment of every piece and plan he'd been working. Until then, the ruins and ceremonial chambers were mostly overseen by phantoms and dust. It seemed even the most devout, living followers of Grima had thresholds and limits of exposure.

The thought made Validar sneer.

' _Weak willed, the lot of them.'_

He drew himself up, letting only the hems of his robes trail over the stones. His steps were sure, taking him in a line into the bowels of the structure. Others may have flinched from this place. But for him… this was almost like a homecoming. A reminder of when his master had reached out to him in the void, and deemed him as worthy of some purpose greater than a quick and ignoble death.

The sneer switched out in favor of a satisfied smile.

It was time for him to follow through on that purpose. As Grima willed it.

-o-o-o-

Time passed. As did the fog and mist, though rain still scattered across the shores. Boats brought in the Shepherds and forces in waves, cramming the village full of troops. A tiny inn at the fringes of the docks had been converted into a temporary headquarters, where the Shepherds settled in.

Say'ri wiped the left over rain water from her bangs, and crossed the beach. She kept one eye on the boats, moored out in the harbor. There was a passing resemblance to the conqueror's ships… though thankfully a lack of troops streaming out to conquer anything. Instead the soldiers paid for whatever they took, and seemed more dedicated to getting dry than fighting.

There were murmurs of conversation drifting from the inn, along with the orange light streaming out of the windows. The steps squeaked under Say'ri's feet, and the door gave a long creak against her hand.

She'd long since memorized the interior of the place, in case she had to defend it. Having it crammed full of outlanders didn't throw her off by much. Neither did the curious looks some of them gave her, once she strode across the threshold and took a seat at one of the few empty tables.

She wasn't isolated for long, however. Across the table there was thud from a body sitting down. She lifted her eyes, to see the leader of the Ylisseans looking at her.

"It's good to see you here…Lady Say'ri?" He tested out her name. Say'ri nodded at that, signaling the barkeep for a cup of something hot. The woman behind the counter simply nodded; Say'ri had been camped at this town long enough that the locals knew her preferences.

"Indeed; I thought I should speak to you, about our next moves. You remain guests here-"

"Though… your own people keep a distance." Chrom noted... a strange sadness coating his words. Just then, despite having an entire bench to himself, he looked like an odd and uncomfortable fit in the bar room. Almost too awkward to fit in.

"My apologies; these times make for cautious people." Say'ri answered. "They have their wounded to treat as well. But I can promise you, as long as I keep company with you, they will have no cause to attack. My word counts for much."

"And well enough," Say'ri raised her head to the new voice. Chrom's tactician sat down across the table as well. "It gives us a chance and an opening we might not have, otherwise."

Chrom nodded at that, favoring her with a brief smile.

' _I did hear rumors, that the two are close…'_ They acted close, certainly. And she didn't miss the way Chrom relaxed. She'd seen similar ease in her own mother and father, in the other's company.

Though her mother and father, capable as they were as fighters, had never taken on THAT many troops. Neither had they grown any scales, and Say'ri found herself still keeping one eye on the exposed skin.

"And with that foothold now established…I can send a message to the capital, and speak of your arrival. With luck, that should prepare my own family to meet you." The tactician nodded at that.

"I… don't have a lot of books or reports covering Chon'sin. But between the command you have, and the weight your words carry, it seems you have some influence."

"By being second in line to succession, yes." Say'ri gave a brief shrug of her shoulders; even to her own ears, that sounded dangerously close to bragging. "But more than that, I devote myself to the sword, and being a protector the people can rely on. If I say you can be trusted, and may well be a boon to us… people are in favor of believing that."

"But not all the way?" Chrom said. Say'ri shook her head at that.

"They may need some convincing, and further examples. Some of them were unnerved by what they saw; the gouts of flame burning the field, and a glimpse of scales that turned aside blades. But the fact is, your actions WERE needed to divide the enemy, and help us win. You may be outlanders... but they are also well aware of the fact that you are STRONG outlanders."

Her eyes slowly scanned the room, taking in the reactions as she spoke. Chrom seemed a touch abashed, and ran a thumb over the distinct mark on his shoulder. But even more than that, she saw a girl in blue a little further off; clearly listening into their conversation, and clearly going pale at her words.

"I… My apologies, Lady Say'ri." The tactician spoke. "I wish to continue this discussion, but I think my attention is required elsewhere for the moment."

Say'ri gave a nod at that, and instead turned her eyes to candle flames, gathering her own words and plans.

-o-o-o-

A wisp of flame sprang to life. First little more than a violet spark, but growing in intensity. The purple light flowed off it like a pulse, going brighter with each flicker.

Validar dared a moment of conceit, that it was reacting to _his_ steps. Responding to his presence.

It was the only moment he allowed, for in another moment he had to brace himself against the surge of _power_ that pressed in around him. The chill of the ruins dimmed for an instant, and it almost felt like he was in the clutches of something massive; a huge mountain of a body coiling around him, and just barely holding off from crushing him.

His nails scrapped across the jar again, the sound drawing him back. Validar cradled the funeral urn as if it contained gold, instead of ashes.

' _Only holding those for a moment longer, however.'_

The ceremonial fire cast a brighter light now; showing the runes and tiles set into the floor. As if another reminder was needed, on the purpose of this place and what fueled the magic seeping up from the floor stones.

For an instant, the fire cast shadows on those floor stones. The wisps of darkness seemed to suggest faces, twisted in agony or terror.

His own family had tales about such visions and flickers in the eye; that these were foes of the past, now bound to serve as playthings for their true god. Or followers who had failed, and now served the same role.

But he was one apart from those specters. Grima and her vessel had told him as much.

' _Vessels. More than one. And now we begin the preparations, to fetch the wandering one back… and put an end to those who meddle in matters greater than them.'_

Ahead, the flames illuminated a table laid out before them. Large enough for a ceremony to unfold, and begin.

-o-o-o-

The rain on the roof drowned out her footsteps. Robin remembered Lon'qu speaking about Chon'sin, and how winters in this region could be cold and rainy; the pattering on the roof was supporting that statement.

' _Much more of this, and we'll be fighting more naval battles than we will land based ones.'_

Fanciful as the thought was, it didn't make her smile; not with her eyes fixed ahead, to one of the tables. It was a rickety thing, crammed into the far corner of the inn and tavern. Far from any source of hearth fire or warmth.

Because of that, the girl sitting there had her cape wrapped tight around her, to give her some meager warmth. The boy next to her had all but burrowed into his robe. Neither looked too happy with themselves… or the things they'd overheard.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" She picked out Morgan's voice. "Something… burning in your blood? Making it easier than ever to cast spells?"

Lucina dipped her head, giving a slight nod. She wouldn't look up, instead staring at her hands. Like she could will them to not cast magic like that, any further.

"…Yes. We did our task at the least, but almost too efficiently-" She cut off when Robin placed a hand on the table.

"And if I may take a guess, you felt almost invincible on the field. Like nothing could stop you, as long as you had fire in your blood?" Robin spoke. Neither of the two answered.

"Lucina, Morgan…" She kept her voice low. "There's no need for you to cut yourselves off like this, or act ashamed. You both carried yourself well enough in battle."

"I... we almost lost ourselves. There was something tempting about that power." Lucina was the one who answered. From the way he slumped, Morgan shared that sentiment. Robin sighed at that, shaking her head.

"And the same has happened to myself, and Chrom… loathe as I am to admit it. We've learned to fight with it and through it, though."

' _I just wish you didn't have to.'_ The thought still refused to leave her alone, and her eyes kept wandering to the flashes up purple she could see; one at Lucina's sleeve cuff, the other through the popped shoulder seams at Morgan's robe.

"And… since you've been dealt the same hand as us, then I consider it my responsibility to try and help you. To make sure you're both equal to the burden. I promise that. And..." A hand brushed through Lucina's hair. The other rested on Morgan's unmarked shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "I meant what I said. Lucina, you are the finest daughter a woman could ask for. And you're every bit as keen of a mind as I am, Morgan. I know that you'll become equal to the burden. Both of you."

Robin held her breath when she finished, and stilled both her hands for a moment. She couldn't tell what went on behind Morgan and Lucina's eyes, though she could at least guess.

' _Wondering if they can be trusted, if they'll help or hurt their friends… Chrom and I understand that all too well.'_ Then her breath rushed out, when both of her children gave a nod.

"Well… I did say I wanted to be like you." Morgan offered, forcing a laugh. "I guess that's one more thing we get to have in common! And that it runs in the entire family."

Lucina groaned at that, rolling her eyes. But she also rolled her shoulders with it, looking less hunched over than before.

They were at least ready to try again, with how they both stood and followed her back to Chrom.

Say'ri hadn't taken much notice of their private conversation, instead motioning for hot mugs of tea delivered and waiting for them. Morgan almost burned his tongue on the drink, in his hurry to warm up. Lucina had the foresight at least to blow on her drink, before taking a few sips. Her daughter kept her eyes above the rim of the cup, and fixed on the swords woman before her.

"As I said, I hope to bring you to the hub of Chon'sin. It may take a few weeks for my message to move through our lines. But once it does…" Say'ri picked the conversation back up. "The rest of my family and would likely wish to meet the Ylisseans."

"We'd be honored to.." There was a question lingering on Chrom's voice. One Say'ri instantly grasped.

"Yes, we fight against the Conqueror. Different portions of the continent rise up where they can. But at the moment, we cannot unify. Again, that is why I suspect it may take weeks; when the report DOES reach the capital, any allies or neutral parties may need to be notified as well, and would wish to be present at your reception."

Chrom didn't seem eager at the talk of more people.

"In the meantime, as we wait for recognition, perhaps we should focus on solidifying our defenses." Robin added. "It's better than staying idle, at the least."

"Well... we're strangers to this country." There was that regret in Chrom's voice again. A sign he wasn't fully certain on being here. "And we need to find allies. I'd sooner be a partner of the Valmese people, than an invader."

"I trust your words, Exalt. It… just may take some time and convincing for our allies to do the same. Worry not, they will come around in time as they see your actions."

"I... I just hope they'll be good actions." Chrom murmured, half to himself.

-o-o-o-

"...That we should use the Dragon's Table for this." Validar muttered under his breath. "But the will of Grima is absolute."

He ran his hand through the ashes, scattered across the table. The urn they had been carried in was long since cast aside. As he brushed through the remnants of a funeral pyre, power burned deep in Validar's chest. He focused on it, letting it grow and smolder down the length of his arm. Violet flames gathered in his palm, seeping into the funeral ashes and setting them alight.

The spell lit up the interior of the cathedral, washing everything out to shades of purple. The stone went gray violet, his own skin went deep purple. Validar smirked as the color washed over him, as beautiful and destructive as any fire Grima could breathe.

On the alter, the ashes vanished from the bite and glow of the flames. The fire coalesced, spreading from one end of the stone surface to the other, shaping into something almost like a man, laid out. Then with a harsh breath, like a massive exhale and sigh, the flames snuffed out. The only light came as Validar called pinpricks of candle light back into existence, and he gazed upon his working.

A strong pair of hands were wrapped tight around the hilt of a ceremonial sword, laid out across a chest. A pale white cloak trimmed in gold draped over the stone alter, fastened to strong shoulders that had clearly swung the sword plenty of times. The leather of gloves creaked, as the fingers slowly flexed. A low groan escaped the man's lips, as his lungs remembered how to breathe, and he slowly raised his head. Validar picked out a glimmer of blue hair, threaded with a thin gold circlet to show the man's former position.

As much as it chaffed him to do so, Validar forced himself to bow.

"Welcome back to the realm of the living, your grace." He carefully recalled each of the words the Hierophant had selected for him... knowing well that recalling them wrong could easily end with a sword to his neck.

"Hh…" The figure was trying to speak. Validar continued over the sound. There was a dazed quality to the voice, showing he still had a window to press his own will into the body.

"Your country has need of you. They have lost their way, as you will doubtless see. That is why you have been called back." A pair of glowing, crimson eyes blinked at him... but slowly, the glow decreased until it was just a faint, pinprick glimmer in the pupils.

"Who...?" The man's voice creaked out. But grew stronger on each word. "Who... are you?"

"A servant of dragons." He spoke, which wasn't fully a lie. All around them, the stones hummed and the candle flames began to shiver. Validar felt a low, murmuring presence at the back of his mind. For a moment he pictured a cowled figure, watching over the proceedings. Giving Validar's own words that extra touch of weight and conviction.

"As I said, your country and people have need of you. We've been forced to take you from your resting spot, due to the dire situation." In answer the man's head swayed back and forth.

He hadn't thought this one would cling to life and his memories so fiercely... but Grima had required something stronger than a simple Risen.

"I..."

Already, he could see the man struggling against his words and influence. Like a man trying to fight his way out of slumber. Validar rushed to finish his words, before the spell dissolved completely.

 _'A strong one... fitting for a king.'_

"Do you remember, your grace? You are Duran... Exalt of Ylisse. And you have been called back during the Halidom and world's time of need... and a strong ruler is required to guide the people back onto the correct path."

"I... what… has happened to my heirs?" The man answered, eyes trying to take in where he was. But the dim candles would give away nothing; no symbols of Grima, to sour the man. Or distract him from the tasks at hand. "I… left them with my task-"

"One is dead." Validar provided. "The other... leads a fools crusade, as you will doubtless see."

Duran's breath rushed out in a shudder, his eyes trying to focus. Finally, a hushed word made it out.

"Where...?"

"The dragon's will calls you over the sea. A transport has been prepared for you, your grace." The crowned head stiffened for a moment… but then bowed in acceptance. A thrill of satisfaction burned through Validar; the spell and its commands held.

"I shall repeat myself again," and to make sure the ritual would hold, and point their new weapon in the proper direction. "You have been brought back by the will of dragons. You have been chosen as a champion to do their will… and surely a king such as you is equal to the task."

* * *

 **(Author's Note: For the record, I imagine Duran being voiced by the late, great Tony Jay. Take that as you will.)**


	41. Dynasty

**Chapter 41: Dynasty**

Chon'sin accommodations were different from what Robin knew, but hardly inhospitable. Robin curled up in a near basket of a chair, while more rain pattered off a tent. The crest of Say'ri's family was emblazoned on the side, and the inside was filled with the pleasant heat of braziers. A cup of tea in her hands helped chase away the last of the chill.

"...And that's the situation so far." Basilio didn't need any tea, with all the pacing back and forth he managed. "It's been the third skirmish in a week. But we've kept them busy with hit and run tactics. By the time their forces get to the border, they're bleeding like stuck pigs. And reeling enough that the local troops can deal with them."

There was also plenty in the way of rain and mud to challenge troops and their movements. The wet and shell had a way of seeping into tired bones or mending wounds. A few more new faces had worked their way into the camp; and to Robin's shock, many of them had known Lucina. Had been from Lucina's time.

' _Everyone in the Shepherds seems alarmingly good at starting families. And raising soldiers; I'm uncertain if that's a good or a bad thing.'_

"We've bought time, at least." Robin concluded, wrenching herself free from her thoughts and gazed up at Say'ri. The Chon'sin blade master showed few signs of fatigue, despite being out in the field constantly. Robin wished she had the same amount of iron in her... but she could still feel something trying to stir into full wakefulness, deep in her blood. It gave her a lightness in battle, but immediately afterwards made her feel like hell; fatigue, muscle soreness... like her blood was chastising her for not letting it burn all the way through.

Judging by the dark circles around Chrom's eyes, the same was true for him. Lucina and Morgan had fallen into a doze on one of the chairs, their heads resting on the other's shoulders.

"Aye. And some of the nearby lords and lands are beginning to sense a change in the air. If we can continue at this pace."

"They seem to have some doubts, though." Robin pointed out. "With how few support troops we have. It's been weeks since that message about our arrival was sent out, hasn't it?" She set the tea aside to rub her own arms, and try to chase the fatigue out. In front of her was a map, showing where skirmishes had happened, with Chon'sin's border a strange wavy, patchwork affair.

"Yes, and even with that there's hesitance. That may be because... We are lucky you arrived when you did, in all honesty." Say'ri frowned down at the map as she spoke. "As you can see, we are still pressed on our Northern and western borders. We are lucky enough that the dynasts in the south still stand against Walhart. If you'd waited a year longer... perhaps even half that, you would not have landed on the shores of Chon'sin."

Say'ri slumped forward. "...We are fading. I see it sometimes, in the wane looks of my people, in the exhaustion that settles over my father and my mother. They try to hold us up and remain proud... and I will do everything I can to honor that strength. But, we have a reprieve for the moment. Winter is closing in, making it more difficult for Walhart to march his armies. He may attempt something... but snow chokes the Northern half of Valm. Even if he wanted to maneuver his troops, he'd have to deal with snow."

"Not the best for marching in." Robin added. "What about his southern forces? He's taken territory down here as well, hasn't he?"

"Aye... but he has no commander for his army yet. The noose has yet to tighten all the way." Say'ri let her breath and next words out in a sigh. "But in a way, this works to his advantage. The southern lords think that he is no threat because of it; they do not need to ally with anyone else to hold him back... I can already predict that when the thaw sets in, more territories will fall to him. It is only a matter of time."

"Then we'll have to use that time as well as we can." Chrom told her. "If anyone has any ideas on what to do..."

"I've one." Say'ri said. "The lords HAVE finally noticed we've been holding our own, despite Walhart's attempts to claim our lands. Which means they've been sending envoys. And that means-"

"Road trip?" Morgan muttered from where he rested, his voice half groggy. Say'ri bit back a smile at the comment.

"…Something along those lines. The time is at last ripe to visit the capital, and see what allies we can gain there."

-o-o-o-

Chon'sin's capital glimmered like Argent. White stone was in abundance everywhere, and the winter rains had finally lifted enough to allow sunlight in. The roads were paved in carefully cut, alabaster like stone, while the buildings along the main road stretched up tall and proud, featuring sweeping roofs that brought to mind large, bird or dragon-like wings.

The road was mostly clear of traffic, thanks in part to a handful of Say'ri's guard rushing ahead and shouting for people to make way. That in turn drew more eyes, as the Shepherds stepped in through the gateway and across the cleared path.

"...I told you we should have just snuck in." Chrom muttered as they walked through the streets. "Far less eyes that way."

"Milord!" Frederick scolded from where he rode, just behind them. "You had no problem with this in Ylisstol!"

"Yes, partially because I KNOW Ylisstol. I'm... all of us are strangers here." And perhaps it was just him, but there was a tide of whispers growing around them. And more than a few eyes started to go to the brand on his shoulder. The scar along it prickled in response; he wished that for once, he'd opted to go with full armor and a sleeve.

The itching in his skin stilled as a hand rested on his shoulder. His eyes darted over to see Robin resting her fingers against him... the fingers on her right hand, he noticed. Her own brand was bared for others to see, shifting some of the attention away from Chrom.

He carefully plucked her hand free, clasping his fingers around it.

"Sorry," he told her. "I don't mind it too much, truly. I just... feel a little odd."

"Well, you shouldn't have to bear it for long. Look; the palace is just up ahead." Robin fought between looking at him and staring ahead. When he followed her sight, Chrom could instantly see why. The Chon'sin palace sprawled out with twin building wings stretching across, the land around it full of carefully tended gardens and pools. In many of the ponds, a single tree grew up, its branches cultivated into a specific, sprawling shape. All the trees had that same pattern pruned into them. And above, the palace itself continued to stretch up to the sky, almost like a tower.

"I'm glad to see we can impress you." Say'ri murmured at Chrom's other side, a small smile in her words.

-o-o-o-

' _Not Ylisstol, but it will suit my purposes for now.'_ The blue haired man thought to himself, and the castle stronghold swallowed him up. He lengthened his strides to speed his way to his destination.

His eyes scanned the surroundings. Something… tried to stir behind them and stain his vision crimson. He screwed his eyes shut until it, and the pressure in his head dimmed. When he blinked his eyes back open, his vision felt a touch clearer. And there was already plenty of red in his surroundings, without it trying to seep into his eyes.

The guards wore red trim on their armor, lined up along the walls of the passage and matching the lush red carpet. None of them moved to stop him, though none moved to assist or welcome him either.

A reminder that he was a guest, at best. Not the reigning monarch of this place.

He didn't let the thought diminish his steps, or his posture. Ahead of him lay the throne room of this Valm continent. And the chamber shivered with voices, all in an uneasy murmur. It was almost an echo of Ylisse, during the times he returned from campaigns. People treading carefully, and raising their voices only when they thought it wouldn't result with a sword to the throat.

This Walhart was almost on tier with him, when he was a former Exalt-

No, not former Exalt. He WAS still Exalt. If only because his idiotic children had proven to be poor inheritors of the title. Leaving him to pick up the pieces.

Duran clenched his fingers back around his sword hilt. The blade had been pressed into his hands before he set sail across the sea, along with a handful of whispers. Of how his children had failed to wipe out Plegia, how they'd fraternized with _fellbloods_ of all creatures. That had been told to him by-

A pain built in his head, when he tried to think too far back. And a bolt of red pain. Duran shook his head.

' _It doesn't matter. Not compared to the present.'_

"…So. All reports indicate that these outlanders are giving the resistance some backbone." Came a sharp, commanding voice. And now Duran had a notion on why Walhart commanded the respect he did.

"They've killed every commander sent at them. And we only have raiding parties in the area for now; there's no general in the south suitable of taking the command." Someone, likely a subordinate, answered.

"An unfortunate mistake your grace, Walhart. But, I'm pleased to inform you that we may have a champion worthy of a command. Or at least capable of strengthening our presence there. Someone with a stake and a drive to eliminate the Ylisseans."

A voice inside the audience hall announced him; and something about the voice sounded well coached and ready to announce him.

"…And Excellus, who would this man would be?"

"One Duran, hailing from Ylisse."

-o-o-o-

Chrom paused for a moment when he stepped inside, trying to gauge where they'd found themselves... and adjust to how different it was from Ylisstol. The room was ringed with pillars, carved from a green stone... and if he looked up, he was sure he could see dragon faces looking down at him, their coils wrapped around the columns. Carved birds stretched from the tops, sculpted from blue stone and looking like they were one breath away from taking flight.

The intricacy of the carvings almost drowned out those filling the room.

Almost.

People crowded the perimeter of the room, forming a ring of envoys and couriers.

Chrom picked out different fashions among them all; Chon'sin robes, chain mail from what had to be northern fighters, tunics of different weave or pattern, and it all created a sea of different colors. These must have been the dignitaries from across Valm... and their eyes were fixed on the Shepherds.

"Welcome, to the main throne," Say'ri murmured to him, before stepping to the front, acting as the head and herald of their group.

"Well met, allies and comrades. I return from the front lines, to bear good tidings and omens to you. We are not alone against the conqueror."

As Say'ri spoke, Robin's fingers squeezed at his. NOW he could see unease draping over his wife, as she glanced around at the room. Morgan shuffled a little behind Lucina, letting her take the lead; for her part, Lucina did her best to raise her head and meet the gaze of all.

"So, these are the dragon blessed from across the sea?" Came a new voice. Chrom looked up to the thrones, only to see no one there. Instead, a man sat on the steps leading to them, a sword laid across his lap. It was a strange blade to Chrom's eyes; forked along its length so smaller spurs of steel stuck out, like ocean waves. No scabbard could hold it, so it lay bare across the man's knees, shimmering in the afternoon light.

"Yen'fay?" Say'ri seemed just as puzzled as Chrom, as she stepped forward. But that confusion didn't extend to her own motions; she glided across the floor, each motion cultivated and at ease with her surroundings. It only served as a reminder to how his own steps thudded on the tile.

"Aye, sister. Here to greet our guests; the Emperor and Empress of Chon'sin are enroute, but were delayed. It seems that there are a few formerly reluctant lords suddenly eager to throw in with them. Since our guests aren't burning the countryside but instead defending it, that is beginning to sway the minds of a few." A low murmur went through the court at that... but none of the voices held any argument to them. At least not just yet; no formal alliance had been promised. Yen'fay turned from his sister, and dipped his head to Chrom.

"My apologies, I should introduce myself. I am Yen'fay; brother of Say'ri and current heir to Chon'sin... and also acting in my parents stead." He rose up from the steps, taking them slowly as he walked towards Chrom. "They say it is an honor to have you as our allies. You fight to protect our people, and for that we owe you a debt."

"Th-thank you." Chrom managed when Lissa nudged him in the side with her elbow. "We're strangers here, and your hospitality also means much to us. The same is true to the rest of our potential allies; we can't win this war alone."

Yen'fay studied him. His eyes were gray, with a careful and measuring gaze entrenched in them.

"...I heard tales that you lead your men from the front. A brave choice," Yen'fay said at last.

"Well... fighting from the front lines is something that's always come easily to me. And Robin works it well enough into her strategies." He tugged Robin gently forward. "Actually... this is who you should thank for keeping the borders intact. Robin, our tactician."

"And wife of the Prince." Yen'fay finished for him. His eyes flickered past Chrom... and he knew they rested on Lucina and Morgan, standing just behind him. Morgan had shed his hood with the loss of the rain, leaving them both to display the blue of their hair. An echo to his own.

"You have a formidable army by your side." Chrom's feet scuffed against the polished stone of the throne room, undecided on if he should have stayed frozen to the spot, or move to block his children from so many scrutinizing gazes.

But it was Lucina who decided it for him. She stepped forward, head raised up to stare at Yen'fay, shoulders squared back. The way her eyes flashed over to Chrom showed she wanted to stand alongside him.

Morgan simply tagged along with her, and the grin sneaking across his face showed it was almost a challenge to him.

"I-I'm surprised those tales have spread." And yet, it was Robin who spoke first, staying at his side.

"One hears many such things. There has been a rise in the tellings of dragons as well. Those who walk among men." Chrom swore he heard Virion clearing his throat, somewhere in the back of their delegation. But Yen'fay did not seem to hear, or gave no reaction. Instead, his eyes fixed on Lucina and Morgan, tracing over to Chrom and Robin.

"I cannot speak for the rulers of Chon'sin... but I personally feel it is wise to have you lead our war." NOW the mutterings began in earnest. Some of the lords whispered among themselves. Others leveled a measuring look on Chrom and the others... and seemed to find them wanting. Finally one of them spoke up.

"Prince Yen'fay, be mindful... they may be formidable, but are they truly trustworthy? They are outlanders."

"THEY are of Naga's blood." A woman spoke up. She wore ceremonial armor, polished so brightly it almost put Frederick to shame. "If you cannot trust her blessing, then who can?"

"They are also only human. Can anyone truly use that power wisely, Pheros? You may have heard the words of one Exalt... but she is dead now." Chrom's eyes flew open at that. "And I remind you, the Exalt before her was no saint. Blood alone cannot prove worth; and I'm not certain I trust this one to remain a liberator."

"I..." Chrom fought to find words that were diplomatic. "Have our actions not proven what we want? We're here to defend! Nothing more!"

Despite his best efforts, his voice rose. And the volume didn't impress some of the listeners.

"The defenses _have_ been speaking in their favor." Pheros said again.

"…Yes. He leads a formidable army, but a trigger happy one. Do you all need to be reminded that they arrived on our shores without invitation? What aim do they have, and what do they intend to be? Allies or invaders?" Chrom winced at that. The voice continued on, without hesitation.

"I have doubts over having them fight for MY country, if they only serve to set it on fire." Then it was Lucina's turn to flinch.

"…That was all of _once,_ my lord." Say'ri answered. "But I've fought alongside them during that battle, and all subsequent skirmishes."

"I've heard rumors that Walhart has begun to bring in their own outlander fighters. Some sort of whispered champion." Said the woman in gold.

"Pheros. Are you saying you wish to stoop to Walhart's level?"

"I prefer that to being slaughtered by him." Pheros snapped back.

Despite her words, some of the gathered nobles were already turning and leaving. Likely not satisfied with what they saw, and deciding to look out for their own interests. Say'ri and Yen'fay did not move to stop them.

In the silence, Yen'fay's eyes trailed to Chrom's shoulder... and the prince's breath drew in sharp for a moment. His face betrayed nothing more of his surprise, however. But he still murmured out "...so it is true."

Before Chrom could ask anything more, Yen'fay spoke up at a louder volume.

"Exalt, you've traveled far. You're welcome to rest here, and we may convene again on the morrow. Perhaps I may see you before then."

-o-o-o-

Duran kept his eyes fixed on the figure in red armor, once he stepped into the main room. The man, who had to be Walhart, cut an imposing figure, seated on the dais. An axe leaned against the side of the chair, in matching red.

"As I said, your grace. Duran of Ylisse. He has been… out of commission of late, but has been moved by current events to take part again. So my sources tell me." The voice continued, and Duran glimpsed it belonging to someone in lavish robes and jewelry. "I believe you'd do well to consider him, as a fighter. Send a champion of Ylisse to best another champion of the same country."

He thought the conquerer had removed a few of the crimson plates to better hold an audience, but even then the remaining armor gave Walhart a sharp look. Like he was prepared to ride out to combat himself, if the reports were grim enough.

And maybe separate a few heads from shoulders along the way, with that axe of his.

Duran didn't shrink from Walhart's gaze, once it was turned to him.

"So. You are Duran." Was all the conquerer said. Gauging him. The room went still, no one else daring to speak out of turn.

"I am. Though at the moment, my name is less important compared to what I can do." Duran answered. "You have enemies that need defeating, and they are the same as mine."

"…Indeed? Even though you are of Ylisse?" Duran narrowed his eyes at that.

"WAS of Ylisse." He shot back. "They've gone soft in recent years. I only wish to be affiliated with them after the problems in my country have been dealt with. Personally dealt with and by force, if need be."

Duran thought that Walhart leaned forward a little at that. An interested light seemed to flicker in the man's eyes. Perhaps he heard something of himself in Duran's voice.

"…I understand Plegia is in support of this invasion." Duran continued. "All the more reason for me to have a personal stake in it. And since it and Ylisse have entered into an alliance, I have no loyalties to my homeland right now. They'd be better served with that alliance severed, and those foolish enough to enter into it brought under heel. I hope to do both, allied with Valm's power and influence."

Walhart paused at that, looking between Duran and the one who had announced him in the first place. Walhart seemed to consider something, or saw some connection… but whatever it was, he left it unsaid.

"Excellus." The man in robes straightened, the jewelry on his beck and fingers set to glimmering from the motion. "Since you speak so highly for this champion, I charge you with escorting him." Excellus' smile increased by a fraction, like a cat with a plump bird that just fell willingly into its paw. "I'm willing to test this man, and send him to the front of our forces. To see just how well he performs, and to grant him a higher standing and station if he does well. I expect regular reports and messages from you."

"As usual, and without fail." Said Exceullus with a bow. "So Champion, shall we?"

Duran gave one last glance at the Conquerer, before following Excellus out into the hallways. His escort had opted for a more humble corridor than what Duran had stepped through; some sort of closed quarter passage, likely used more by servants than high ranking officials.

"Now, we are only new acquaintances, but I'm still quite certain this is the beginning of a fruitful partnership. Provided we have an understanding in place-"

Though it DID have the advantage of having no extra eyes or ears. It gave Duran room to speak.

"I intend to work with you. Nothing more. So you can put your honeyed words away. They'll have no sway on me." Duran answered. Excellus waved the response away, smiling as though it were some joke.

"There's no need for such hostilities, good sir. You know, I've killed my share of Plegians as well, in service."

"Service to your liege, or to yourself?" Excellus giggled at that.

"No reason why the two can't be one in the same. Still, I'll try to use that same skill to _also_ keep our goals in alignment, your grace." Duran's head yanked up at the title, and Excellus gave an exaggerated wave of his hands. "Oops! Did I let that slip just now? What a clumsy tongue I have today! Still," that smug smile split to show his teeth.

"Such a lucky thing that slip of the tongue happened here, with no witnesses. Why, I simply shudder to imagine what could happen if Walhart or one of his more loyal subjects overheard me. It wouldn't do, that your already share a name with a former Exalt. A title like that and a touch of trust might just paint you as a rival to the throne!" He ignored the way Duran bristled over 'former Exalt.' "And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

' _So he knows.'_

Duran stilled his steps, halting at Excellus' thinly veiled threat. He let in one breath, and then found himself giving a harsh snap of laughter. "So that's how you wish to play this? I suppose I'll have to keep you around for now. And I suspect you'll keep my on my toes, and be amusing enough."

"Indeed my lord. I often hear his grace Walhart say much of the same. Still, if we muster our troops and slip out ahead of the first snow, there should be no shortage of enemies to fight. I suspect that will satisfy us both."

-o-o-o-

"I pray you didn't find my brother too off putting." Say'ri leaned against the railing, and gazed up at the night sky as she spoke. The courtyards of the palace were a welcome reprieve from the whispers floating around the interior. Some of the ambassadors had remained, gauging their odds if they entered into an alliance. And still considering the new comers.

' _Still considering us.'_ Chrom thought.

"I can promise you, he means well enough." Say'ri continued. "He wants to protect our country, and that causes some manners to take a backseat in his mind."

"Hah, no offense taken." Chrom answered. "I don't mind if he's frank, as long as he's a good leader. Or... leader to-be. If anything, his directness was a good offset to the skeptical." Robin nodded as well.

"By the way, Say'ri... what sort of tales do you have about dragons, here? Apparently we're not the first people with that power. Virion said as much about Roxanne as well."

Say'ri nodded at that, a fond smile crossing her face.

"Aye, my brother and I used to hear stories as children… and the tales do not change too much across the borders." Say'ri shut her eyes, seeming to recall her own memories. Chrom could imagine something similar to his own family, seated around the fire. "You'll find it is an even divide on what the tales suggest; usually the dragons do not freely give their powers, however. And often there is a price to it... but inevitably, they tend to save the tale in the end."

"Particularly those blessed by Naga's Voice." A new voice drew all their heads, as Yen'fay stepped forward. The shadows drew away from his face, where he dipped his head to Chrom. "Forgive me; I was passing by and overheard the tail end of the conversation. But... Prince, may I speak frankly?"

"As I said before, I'd prefer it if you did."

"Very well... Pheros spoke the truth, but so did the other nobles. You ARE of Naga's blood, but many are suspicious for just that reason. As Say'ri said, the tales are divided on whether your power will be for good or for ill. And the same can be said of the stance over our allies. I fear that just by speaking in your favor, I have driven some of them away. And we cannot afford to lose some of the strength along our borders."

"Then... what do you propose, brother?" Say'ri's voice went tight from frustration. "They've done all they can to prove themselves in battle! We've both vouched for them! Yet so many of them are intent on seeing conquerors, or using that to justify their own cowardice!"

Chrom felt a weight settle on his shoulders, and tug his head down. He was beginning to wonder what, if anything it would take to sway those hearts and minds.

 _'Or maybe you are just like your father, after all... and everyone else but YOU can see it. Perhaps the Emblem can only hold THIS in check for so long as well.'_ His hands balled into fists.

"Chrom... don't give into despair just yet. We haven't lost this battle; if anything, we've been gaining ground." Robin spoke up at his side, her whisper teasing at his ear. Her eyes glimmered in the lantern lights... and he wanted dearly to hold onto her just then. Instead, he forced himself to nod as Robin turned to Yen'fay and Say'ri.

"You are familiar with Naga." She said first, watching as they both nodded. "That gives us the beginnings of a common ground to work from. But at the same time I have to wonder... why? Plegia worships a different god, and Ferox doesn't hold much with gods at all. So if I may be blunt enough to ask; WHY does a completely different country hold with such similar beliefs?"

"Because of the Voice." Yen'fay answered, in a way that Chrom could easily hear the capital letter. "She is the oracle of Naga, and also of her own blood. A direct daughter of the divine dragon."

"Aye; Lady Tiki." Say'ri added, and then "...Are you quite alright, sir? You look like you were just punched in the gut."

"It's... I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't think ANY direct line would still be alive." His heart was picking up speed.

"She sleeps for now; she has yet to wake in our lifetime for more than a day... but it could well be time for her to stir. Yen'fay... do you have an idea?"

Yen'fay rubbed at his chin, deep in thought. "I suspect if anything could wake her, it would be one with Naga's blessing. And if she were to speak in favor of them, it would be easy to sway the last of the dynasts over to our cause." Say'ri clapped a hand on his shoulder, a grin flashing across her face.

"You echo my own hopes, then. Chrom, Robin... will you be well rested enough to set off in the morning?"

"I'm ready to set off tonight... but I suppose I can wait." Chrom answered. He thought for a moment he actually saw Yen'fay smile at the remark; if nothing else, the heir nodded his approval. "I... admit, I hope that she might also have some answers for us. If we could gain better control, and if we could help Lucina and Morgan..."

"I do not begrudge you that." Yen'fay answered. "You look out for your kin, and I respect that."

"Then it's decided. We will make speed to the Voice." Say'ri spoke up, driving a fist into her palm decisively.

"Sounds like a plan," Robin added. "But... pardon me for asking, but where will we find the Voice?"

At that, Yen'fay and Say'ri both looked out over the gardens. Their eyes rested on one of the lakes, reflecting a starry and moonlight sky... save for where single a tree blocked out the light.

"On the branches of the Mila tree, of course. I pray that you either have wings, or are ready for a long climb. Either way, rest up for now. Tomorrow, Yen'fay will hold down our progress here, and sooth any disgruntled dynasts. And I will lead you to Lady Tiki."


	42. Voice

**Chapter 42: Voice**

True to Say'ri's word, they set out with all haste towards the Mila tree, with the grey Chon'sin dawn being the only witness to their departure. They traveled light, with more mist at their backs than supplies on their shoulders. Only the core of the Shepherds traveled with them... because as they soon learned, the surrounding countryside became much more fractious as they left Chon'sin's borders.

But along the way, they'd met more than a few allies.

Lucina paused at where she'd taken up watch on the hills. At least there were no more bandit or raider camps dotting the countryside; only green stretching out and shimmering in the last of the fading light.

' _After a lifetime of dying countryside, I could get used to seeing nothing but vibrant green.'_ She thought to herself, before raising her eyes. Growing up from the horizon was the Mila Tree, finally visible as a great gray and black outline. It had to be massive, to be seen from such a distance.

"Hoy, cousin! What keeps you awake?" She almost jumped at Owain's volume.

For all that he'd been separated from them for months, he certainly didn't act like much time had passed. He'd barely blinked at the new scars she'd picked up, and seemed to put on even more of a show when he was around her. Probably trying to get her to relax.

With mixed results.

"Wh-what are you-?" She sputtered out, blinking at him.

"We're on patrol!" Sumia's daughter piped up at Owain's side, peeking out behind him. Cynthia looked none the worse for wear, despite accidentally throwing in with bandits. They'd been lucky to encounter her on the march, and even luckier that Sumia had turned her lance aside and had a hurried heart to heart with her daughter on who to trust.

But since then, the small pegasus rider had been eager to fight. 'On the TRUE side of justice,' to quote her words. Perhaps it was a given that she and Owain were side by side, almost all the time. The two still watched her, waiting for a real answer from her.

"Just... just thinking."

' _And remembering the fights we found you in.'_

Her fingers shivered, going to Falchion's hilt. She reminded herself to breathe again; she'd been holding it together so far, Robin and Chrom both taking turns to coach her and Morgan while they fought. The two had taken to pairing off with one child or the other… and splitting the Emblem and the gem stones between them.

Her fingers clutched at the hilt, like it was a lifeline. Like she could hold onto and safeguard all Ylisse's artifacts, if she just kept enough of a white knuckled grip.

' _But… you have been learning something each time, even if you hate the risk to Ylisse's treasures. How to breathe through the battle haze, and keep some small measure of control. And so far no one else has seen you fraying at the seams.'_

"Th-thinking and hoping." Lucina answered.

"Good! You always go around saying hope will never die! And you do it with such conviction, too!" Cynthia said. "Um... what are you hoping for?"

"...Answers." Lucina glanced down at her hand as she spoke. She'd peeled her glove off; the six eyed mark stared up at her.

Only now did she wonder why she held it as well. Before she'd just thought it was the consequence of having two Branded parents. But her mother, in a past timeline, had never offered much in the way of details. Some of the trouble must have shown on her face, with how her cousin stepped forward.

"Steady your sword hand!" Owain muttered, his voice thick with theatrics. "After all, there's no battle yet to unleash your rage upon!"

' _And when there are future battles, I hope there's no repeat of what happened before.'_

"O-of course. But Say'ri did warn that we might encounter some resistance, the closer we get to the Tree." The three of them turned back to the tree, each with a different gaze; excited for Cynthia, Owain twitching for some vague form of action... and Lucina remembering.

"Naga's Voice..." she whispered. "We can only hope that she has an echo of Naga's strength and power." And could keep her own family safe.

As always, when the worry grew too tight in her chest, Lucina reached for a melody. One that she'd tucked in the back of her head, and always brought out when the situation became almost too heavy to bear.

"And there you go again. Singing under your breath when you think no one's listening." She stopped short, face going pink at a new voice's remark. Lucina turned her eyes to see a gray haired boy moving up the rise… with Morgan trailing him.

' _Inigo. Wonderful.'_ Another last minute addition to their crew of Shepherds and displaced children.

"More to the point, singing under your breath and being embarrassed by it!" Inigo put on a smile for her, and Morgan seemed equally cheery. "I'm certain that if you were a bit more confident, you would be-"

"Is it necessary that we talk about this right now?" Lucina sighed out, and feeling the melody die on her tongue. Morgan deflated at her words, his mouth opening one second like he wanted to ask something, only to close the next. Inigo slumped at her words, disappointment flashing across his face. Over WHAT, Lucina wasn't sure.

She also wasn't sure she wanted to dwell on it. There were more important things to focus on.

"…I'm turning in for the night. Given the early start we'll have tomorrow, I suggest all of you do the same."

-o-o-o-

The sky turned into a network of pale branches and green leaves, as far as the eye could pick out. Chrom found himself craning his neck to look up at it, his feet finding a way up among the pathway of roots. Just one was wide enough for him to walk side by side with Say'ri. The Chon'sin Princess was chuckling... likely a little amused at how stunned he was by it.

"And The Voice sleeps at the top of this?"

"Indeed; there is a stairway up, inside the trunk of the tree."

"I... understand what you said about being ready to climb, now." Chrom murmured. His calf muscles were already aching when he thought about what was before them. But his shoulder muscles... those twitched, considering another option.

"...I'm guessing no one thought to install a lift." Lissa piped up, shaking her head as she stared upwards.

"Oracles DO NOT require lifts!" Say'ri all but shouted, and went pink in the cheeks when Lissa giggled.

"Sorry, sorry... I didn't mean to cause that. Just a joke!"

"Yes, well... oh." Say'ri trailed off. Chrom followed her gaze to the campsites stretching out on either side of the roots to their right and left. The forces arrayed flew banners unfamiliar to Chrom's eyes, lacking the Chon'sin crests. "They rallied much faster than I was expecting. I wonder what sorts of threats Walhart is motivating them with."

But Robin's eyes narrowed on them, picking out something.

"'Oh' is apt... look at how they've settled their tents in the dips of the roots." She stretched a hand out to the squares of cloth, already rippling as forces spilled out from them.

"Someone plainly didn't want this camp to be found until anyone wandered into the thick of it. In all honesty, it's a well devised trap." Robin shook her head as she moved forward, standing up on a rise in the roots to get a clear look. "Odds are they've already spotted us... I'm pretty sure they'll be on us in short order. Seems worthy of Walhart's forces, if I'm remembering that crest correctly."

"But... you are not concerned?" Say'ri ventured. "Even with how they outnumber us, you aren't worried?"

"Not immediately, no. Here's how I see it; they used the tree roots to their advantage, but so can we." Robin's eyes narrowed, examining the field. "Hah... I think I see it now. They probably try to push people away from the Mila tree... so we'll have to charge forward instead."

"You risk getting surrounded." Say'ri said, tensing her fingers around the grips of her swords. Chrom's fingers twitched, almost tempted to grip at Falchion.

' _But Robin knows what she's doing… and knows what our strengths are.'_

"Yes, but look at the layout of the tents. They all taper off towards the trunk of the tree... and they only get larger and more elaborate, instead of being the tail end of the camp. I KNOW that they've got their commander up there..."

"And if we defeat him in the initial charge, we'll leave the rest of the army in disarray?"

"A bold enough move. Bold enough to catch these forces off guard." Virion thumbed his bow string as he spoke, unhurried in how he ran his fingers along the line. "This far from any resistance on the Chon'sin border… yes, I'd say they're still complacent. They're likely to expect us to be cautious, or retreat entirely and give chase."

' _Maybe it's for the best that caution isn't my strong suit right now.'_ Chrom though, though it brought no smile to his face. But his next thought made him still, and his eyes slid over to find Robin's.

"Robin… we'll need to split our forces, going by the terrain." He gestured to the tree. The roots snaked through the enemy camp, forming a valley where most of the tents nestled.

"Yeah. I'd say… one force to press the attack, and land the critical strike. That NEEDS to be you and Say'ri, along with our best fighters. And two more forces to press the flanks and divert attention. I'll take one…" She trailed off and glanced to Virion. The archer let out a theatrical sigh, as though insulted there was ever any doubt on what he'd do.

"Give me a portion of the Shepherd, and I assure you the bards will sing of my conquests!"

' _I thought you already did your share of the singing.'_ Chrom thought, and just held back a smile. Over the heads of those assembled, he spotted familiar blue hair. Lucina, who was tilting her head this way and that, like something was just on the edges of her hearing. But she kept one eye on the proceedings. Something about her restless nature solidified a stray plan in Chrom's mind.

"You should take the majority of our forces to the flanks… but I'd like to keep Morgan and Lucina with me. And the Emblem." Robin paused at the idea, a flicker of protest showing in her eyes… but it faded when she took another count of the enemy camp.

"You said we need strong fighters in the spear head. And… the fact is, Lucina is one of our most capable."

"AND me, right? Right?" Morgan piped up.

"Right." Chrom let a small chuckle into his words. Robin still frowned at the idea… but that vanished when her hand snapped out, and reflexively caught something he tossed to her. Silver from Argent glimmered between her fingers.

"You keep a hold of that. Morgan can hang onto Gules… and I think Lucina can stick close enough to me, that the Emblem can protect her too. I think we need to find out what they've learned." And pray they were ready to take the front lines again.

"And not to rush, but we don't have much time before they finish mobilizing, and march on us. If we want to pin them to the valley, we need to move now." Cherche pointed out, and forced Robin to nod.

"Alright, Chrom. Remember your roles everyone, and we'll be hearing Naga's Voice before long."

-o-o-o-

Something was different about this fight. That notion hummed in Lucina's bones, and staggered her steps. She had to push herself to keep up with Chrom. He all but ran to meet the Valmese force. And she'd have to watch his back once the front lines clashed together.

' _Maybe that's all it is.'_ That she was back on the front lines and being exposed to the full heat of combat. Her eye wasn't trying to burn out of its socket, which she treated as an encouraging sign. The glimmer of the Emblem daughter her eye… and quieted the hum in her head and bones for a moment. Enough that she could draw her sword.

At her other side, Morgan did the same. There were still no spell books in his hands; their last bout of spell slinging clearly left him rattled, even if it was weeks past. Lucina still shivered from remembering it, and she could blame him for favoring a sword just then. Especially since they were going to need steel. Swarms of soldiers poured from the camp and sprawled across the roots of the tree, like an angry anthill kicked open.

' _Remember your mother's words. Breathe. Accept any fire you feel and let it drive you. And focus on the Emblem to keep you calm-'_ She repeated that mantra, trying to keep her thoughts clear.

And yet… something kept trying to creep in. Something that lilted oddly in her head, like a song. And it was somehow louder than the ring of steel rising from either side of the line.

Lucina forced the song back for a breath, narrowing her eyes on her first target. She crashed and cleaved through the soldier with barely a pause, Morgan mirroring her strikes. Chrom finished he is battle in even less time. Lucina sword there was a glimmer of blue fire in his eyes, when he turned to Say'ri and shouted for her to keep close. The four of them made for a whirlwind of blades, gouging deep into the enemy's center.

Her blood burned and sang in equal measure, easily carrying her through the skirmishes. She thought she knew battle, before; fighting Risen and Plegians. But this… small wonder her parents had carried so many fights. It should have scared her, the way she danced between blows. Instead she felt elation, and-

The humming pressed all the more at her head, and turned her focus.

"What… IS that?" Her voice carried more than she thought, causing Chrom to turn and blink at her. And his eyes widened, catching a hint of song as well. Morgan bumped shoulders with her, rubbing at his head. Only Say'ri remained in motion.

"Hurry! Why do you hesitate!?"

"D-don't you hear that?" Chrom tilted his head upwards as he spoke to Say'ri. Lucina was sure she heard a faint echo drifting through the trees, stirring her heart. Say'ri tilted her head to the side, a puzzled look crossing her face.

"I only hear battle on our flanks. Exalt, we need to hurry; I don't wish for the Shepherds to exhaust themselves-" She cut off when something else clearly cut through, that she COULD pick out. The beating of wings in the air.

"...Wyverns." Chrom growled, eyes going up.

And... something about that was unfair. It showed in his face, in his flash of teeth. That they held the air, when he didn't. The fire blazed bright in his eyes… and the hum in her bones nearly deafened Lucina.

-o-o-o-

Chrom fixed his eyes on the wyverns. His hands balled into fists when they began their run, intent on halting the charge and sowing chaos. And with their own riders on the flanks and not yet closed in, those wyverns could rule the skies unchallenged, long enough to cause plenty of havoc.

There was a thrum in his pulse; it had built from the first charge, with each step he took towards the Mila Tree. And with how it helped his strikes, he saw no reason to deny it. Something about his pulse, the beating of his heart… it almost had a tempo that mirrored some sort of song. Something he'd heard before.

A flare of spell fire lit up the corners of his vision. A little more of his control frayed under the light.

The wyverns screamed challenge from overhead, and Chrom found himself wanting to howl back. Instead he forced his focus inward for a heartbeat. Felt something stir in response, and stretch outward.

The wings answered easily to his call, stretching against the air. Chrom had no time to decide if that eased or unnerved him. His wings fanned out to either side. Say'ri leapt back with a shout, right as Chrom leapt for the air.

If a part of him flinched from Say'ri's reaction, then he left it behind and confined to the ground.

He'd missed this. The wind underneath him, the freedom of the air. His ears picked out the shouts of the Wyvern riders, as Chrom twisted through the air towards them. His vision remained sharp, focused on them. And he knew exactly what to do. His hand warped, twisting as claws sprouted out.

Closing with the riders wasn't needed. Instead his hand snaked out as he dodged by one. He leapt above it, stretching out with his talons where it passed him by. They snagged on the wing membrane, not tearing... but pulling the wing out of its stroke. The wing beats stalled for just a moment, and the wyvern fell from the sky as it desperately tried to find air. It crashed into the campsite below.

Chrom didn't pause to contemplate the damage. Instead he rolled through the air, looking for the next target.

Talons filled his sight, the wyvern trying to tear his wings off. By reflex Chrom yanked his arm up. The talons skimmed and slammed into something that wasn't flesh. A weight tore loose from his arm, and his free hand gouged the wyvern's side. It fell with a pained screech… as did something golden. Chrom didn't contemplate it, closing with the last wyvern.

-o-o-o-

Lucina tore her eyes from the battle in the sky. But even with her focus back on the ground, there was still the cries of the wyverns in her ears. And still a strange hum from the tree-

' _Don't listen to it,'_ Lucina urged. Soldiers had streamed between her and her father, a tide that was pushing her further and further from them. Say'ri couldn't afford to slow down or turn back to help her, still dedicated to carving a path. The handful of Shepherds kept the sword master safe, but Lucina still couldn't catch up or break through.

Maybe that song in her blood could help-

' _Don't listen to it-!'_ Lucina critical her teeth and narrowed her eyes, turning her eyes up to try and glimpse the Emblem.

Instead she saw fire. It sprung from the hands of an enemy mage, and singed the feathers of Cynthia's pegasus. The girl was lucky she didn't lose an entire wing, as Owain jumped into to deflect the worst of the strike. He winced from the bite of flame, licking from blade to his sword arm.

A howl left Lucina's throat. She lunged diagonally, all but pouncing on the enemy mage. Fire tried to bite at her too, but it didn't mark her skin. Or compete with the fury boiling in her blood. The mage didn't have time to try again, her sword making short work of him.

"L-Lucina!?" A voice called out. The battle field lurched as she wrenched herself up from the mage's body, and her eyes settled on Inigo. He was trying to reach them, but had been swept out among the enemy troops. He barely managed to dance between the enemy blades, and strain showed on his face; he wasn't going to be able to keep up for much longer.

' _Because of you, losing your focus.'_ He'd be overwhelmed in a matter of seconds. And a single sword wouldn't be enough torch Inigo. Or Owain and Cythia, as they bunched around him and tried to give him breathing room.

' _They… they can't-'_

"No dying here!" Morgan snapped out. And just like that her sibling was at her side. A wildness was in his eyes, and drove his hands to settle on the spell tome. He ripped it from the dead grip of the mage, power already swirling around him.

The fire leapt from his hands, almost impatient for him to call on it again. Red and gold tongues of flame drove a wedge in the Valmese. The others lifted their heads, scrambling out of the way. For a split second their eyes fell on Morgan and Lucina, and saw they had their opening to get back to the main force-

Lucina tore into the gap Morgan created, trying to reach where she'd last seen Chrom. A ferocity fueled her strikes. Something about the fire burned out the last of her willpower. The song from the trees filled her head, her pulse, her very bones and blood.

And she could no longer ignore it, anymore than she could still her own pounding heart.

-o-o-o-

' _Stay sane. Stay alive.'_ Robin reminded herself. She kept the Leven sword clutched in one hand, Argent in the other. The gem warmed itself in her grip, while the sword crackled, impatient to let loose its energy.

She'd used the weapon several times now. More often than not, blindly channeling it to aid her children-

' _Eyes up front. You're about to get into range!'_ She sternly reminded herself, and fixed her eyes on the enemy troops. A few of the more sharp eyed Valmese saw what was happening, and screamed for their allies to turn-

But too slowly. The first of the Shepherds slammed into the line, and in the chaos the Valmese numbers worked to sow even more confusion. It turned into a blur of thunder strikes, and her arms flicking the blade out to score hits with the edge when she had to. When Robin's vision cleared she thought the Leven sword had picked up a few more notches… but her own arms were unmarked, and unscaled. There was, however, a peculiar and uncomfortable buzz growing in the back of her ears, the closer they got to the tree.

But she could almost FEEL the tide turning. Just a few more moments and Chrom's force would be close enough to strike at the heart-

A gold glimmer caught her eyes. One that didn't come from the Levin sword, or any spell tomes. Robin looked up just in time to see the Emblem go tumbling out of the sky, and her stomach turned over at the sight.

' _What's he doing up there!? What-'_ Argent tried to burn in her hand. Tried so hard to keep her mind clear… but something strained her her back, pushed against her tactician's robe. Robin's teeth squeaked together as she fought to keep control, to not leap into the sky and join Chrom.

' _Wait-'_ But she already knew it was a losing battle. Even if Argent was keeping her thoughts clear, her heart screamed in panic over what was happening to Chrom, Morgan, OR Lucina. She only prayed that they were safe, and would solve the fight quickly.

-o-o-o-

Lash out. Push forward. Somewhere behind her, Lucina heard Inigo and Owain calling for her to wait. But everything moved too fast; she barely had room to breath, let alone stall. Only Morgan could keep up with her, as they cut their way through for Say'ri. And only barely.

Spells flickered out from his hands in rapid fire. The flames burned hot... and she saw that he had a death grip on Gules. Ruby light flickered off of it, adding an extra touch of crimson and hellish glow to the fight.

Her blood wanted to burn through and out of her body, and the hum in her brain reached nigh deafening levels. Her vision was going white-

Save for one patch of golden light, laying on the ground in front of them. She slid low to the earth, fingers scrapping against tree bark before closing on something metallic. The blinding light cut out, like someone had torn a veil from her vision. The Emblem rested easily in her grip, cooling her thoughts and stilling her pulse for a moment.

Lucina held onto the emblem, using it half as a shield and half as an anchor to whatever was lashing out at her. She closed the last of the distance to Say'ri, her head cleared just enough to pick out the commander's words.

"What is he doing!?" Say'ri rasped out. "We-"

"I'll get you to the general!" Lucina shouted in her ear. She only waited an instant for Say'ri to nod, before lunging forward. She sliced their attackers down, clearing the way.

Above, the wyverns screamed and died… and something in Lucina wanted to claw its way up and join them. A stitch of pain settled between her shoulders. In answer, Lucina's fingers tightened around the Emblem. She fixed her eyes on the last cluster of guards between them and the general, and threw herself into them with a wild howl that could have shook leaves from the branches.

-o-o-o-

Chrom froze, wingbeats stilling for an instant. That wasn't a wyvern cry he heard.

 _'Lucina-?'_ His thoughts yanked themselves back into working order as he stared down. To see his daughter taking up his place in the charge.

 _'Chrom you IDIOT! What are you doing!?'_ His thoughts yelled louder, spurring him to drop out of the sky. The last wyverns fell easy prey to Virion's arrows, and Cherche's Minerva. The wyvern bellowed her own battle cry... for a heartbeat, Chrom wanted to remain in the air, clearing the skies of the intruders-

His daughter was down there, however. Now cutting wildly through the line and squaring off against the enemy general.

The man's face appeared to be taken over by a particularly aggressive and bushy caterpillar… but he still fended off Lucina's strikes.

"You're a few seasons too young and impatient, girl!" He bellowed out, catching her parallel Falchion with a shield. Lucina twisted away from a blow that could have taken her head… but Chrom swore she took a stroke along the cheek. Before the general could follow up, Chrom arrowed out of the sky.

Chrom hit the tree roots with a wash of air, landing hard on his hands and knees. His claws scrapped furrows in the wood as he glared up at the general.

"Cervantes…" Say'ri muttered behind him.

"Huh, so we finally meet... you've got Naga's blood in you well enough. You fight well for a smooth cheeked boy." Chrom's answer was to rush him. Like all Valmese commanders, the man favored heavy armor that could easily turn aside Falchion. His own claws couldn't find purchase, either.

"You face me as well!" Say'ri called out. Chrom launched himself back to the air, twisting to the side as an axe tried to bite into his ribs. His wings fanned out again, catching him in the air, and giving him an instant to gather himself. Below, Say'ri rushed, her sword trying to pierce his side. Instead, it rattled along, gashing the armor but little else. She took a cut to the leg for her troubles.

Chrom dove again. Just like the wyverns, he didn't pull out of his dive. Instead, he tore a passing blow. His claws landed right where Say'ri had cut, tearing the rent open a little further. He came to a rough landing on the ground, just out of range. Beyond him, he saw-

Lucina. Somehow back on her feet. She'd dropped the Emblem. And something blue caught the dim canopy light, and glimmered on her face.

' _S-scales!?'_

Her eyes glowed blue, adding extra light to the line of scales protecting her cheek. With each breath, he swore the patch grew bigger and consumed more of her flesh.

' _Oh no, no-'_ The scales glowed all the brighter when Morgan sprang up behind her. He lobbed a fire spell, something throwing off his aim, but still staggering Cervantes. Just enough to give Lucina an opening.

Lucina charged forward, moving in a blur and burying Falchion in the gap he and Say'ri had torn open. Cervantes toppled over with a clatter of armor as Lucina leapt free. She crouched against the tree root, her entire body shaking and her eyes darting about like a cornered animal.

"I-I told you... I can fight!" She whispered out. At the moment, she fought to keep her feet.

"Ahh... science has failed me." Cervantes gritted out, fighting is way to his feet. He must have seen how the skies around them had fallen. Chrom was faintly aware that the man was climbing onto a horse, and spurring a retreat. Say'ri couldn't stop him; she was already nursing a wound. And Lucina-

Lucina shook, fighting for a clear breath. His own blood was boiling as well, and that strange song hadn't left him. He swore it drifted down from the summit of the tree. Lucina clapped her hands over her ears, dropping Falchion; it was plain she hadn't shut the sound out either.

Her spine went rigid, before Lucina doubled over. Next to her Morgan collapsed to his knees.

His body screamed for him to do one thing, to chase after the retreating general and his troops. He forced his arms to do another. Chrom grabbed onto his daughter and son, and tugged them close. Just like on the ship, they were both furnaces… and seemed to be shutting down. Chrom forced a deep breath, and let his own balance go slack.

They all tipped over the side of the roots, into one of the streams running alongside. His wings folded around his shoulders as they fell, the wind shrieking past them for an instant before all sound cut out in favor of a massive splash.

He plunged into the waters at the roots, feeling the cool temperature wash over him and snuff out the last bit of power smoldering in him. It was a reprieve; barely, but still something. Lucina clutched at his shoulders, clinging onto him as the water washed over her. A few bubbles escaped Morgan's mouth, before Chrom kicked back to the surface. His daughter shivered under his grip... but it was only from the chill, Chrom thought. The fire was chased out of them as well... at least for the moment.

But Lucina's eyes wouldn't focus on him. Morgan's head merely listed to the side. Chrom cursed under his breath, knowing that dazed look on their faces. He'd worn something very similar, years ago.

"Chrom? Chrom!" A voice lifted his head. Robin was standing above him, feet braced against the mossy roots. He saw a shadow growing from her back, and Argent was blazing in her hand. The sight pushed Chrom out of the water. The stream rippled from the force of his wings, pushing him and Lucina both upwards. Robin reached out to grab Morgan, pulling him up.

"What's wrong? What happened? I saw you in the air-?"

' _I rushed in, like a fool. And look what happened.'_

"I-" He started, only for Morgan to murmur something.

"N-not bad, right?" His son gave a weak smile. And his eyes continued to drift up to the trees. "Ah... I wish that ringing would stop, though. I swear it's all I hear... and I keep wanting to find the source."

Robin blinked at Morgan, but Chrom rubbed at his ears. Because he swore he almost heard… words, at the very edges of his senses.

"...A voice..." Lucina murmured. Her eyes were half lidded and staring into the green. "Why can't we get to it? The voice keeps... keeps calling. I-"

"Did… Did she say 'Voice?'" Say'ri limped over to them, make-shift bandages covering her leg. "Can your daughter HEAR Naga's Voice?"

If it was possible, Robin's face went even paler. "Oh… Gods. You all have Naga's blood in you! That must be it… and I was a fool for not thinking of it sooner-"

He cut Robin off before she could berate herself further, raising his unchanged hand. Lucina slumped against his shoulder as he bent down, scooping the Emblem back up. It stilled some of that strange hum, but didn't silence the voice all the way.

"I think… some answers are in order. And they're up there." And the way their children shuddered, neither her nor Robin wanted to wait.

Robin's own wings were already twitching, ready to go to work.

They both leapt for the branches. The wash from their wings sent the flowers in the bark swaying, and pushed them higher.

He lost track of the distance, save that the voice was growing louder. Calling him up to the tree top.

Beyond them, Say'ri was yelling. He hoped she could guide the remainder of the Shepherds up the trunk. Beyond them, the Valmese were withdrawing. And above them, the trees stretched their branches out, almost like they were welcoming an errant group of children back into their embrace.


	43. Song

**Chapter 43: Song**

 **(A/N: Hey everyone, I know it's been a while; I ended up with a copy of Fire Emblem Echoes and wanted to play through it, to absorb a little bit more of the lore since I'm working on the Valm arc now. It's been a good game so far, too! But that's part of why this chapter was so delayed in coming out. Still, hope that it was worth the wait.**

 **Also for those curious, Lucina's song is in the same register as Teru's Song from "Tales from Earthsea.")**

* * *

Her head was filled with the howl of rushing air, and a song. It hummed, wordless and achingly beautiful in her head. She felt like her own ears couldn't contain it... and her throat couldn't even come close to matching it. At the moment, she also struggled to breathe. The inside of her throat scorched hot, and her lungs burned alongside it. When her breath finally made its way out, it was in a rush of flame. She felt it bite at her lips, saw a brief flicker of blue and gold fire dancing in her vision.

"Oh gods..." a familiar, male voice drifted into her hearing. "It's happening to her, too…"

She blinked, trying to clear her eyes… but a white haze was determined to cloak her vision and stab at her eyes. She squeezed them shut, wondering why the side of her face also ached and burned. Her fingers brushed against something rough and scaly, slowly spreading along her cheek with each breath. Sight and touch both hurt or turned her stomach, so she favored listening instead.

There were whispers in her head, and a faint song echoing from somewhere above.

' _I… I've heard this before. I've sung this before!'_ Her eyes tried to spring open at that… but it wasn't white light, or even a tree that greeted her sight. Instead she stared at six red eyes, glowering at her. Her throat went dry, and closed up around any screams.

-o-o-o-

Each wingbeat churned fire in his heart. And the closer they got to the summit, the more unbearable the humming in his bones and skull became. For all that Chrom was flying through the air, he was also drowning in his own body.

Branches and leaves lashed at his face, trying to entangle him and stop his flight.

' _So burn through them.'_ A thought hissed at his head. A flicker of flame licked out from the tips of his fingers-

"CHROM!" Robin's scream crashed through the mental fog, as did Lucina flinching in his grip. Where his fingers had touched her cheek can burned her skin, new flicks of blue scales showed. Pain and stress creased her face, and she writhed in his grip. His heart threatened to sink into his stomach at the sight.

Chrom wrenched his head up, eyes narrowing at the canopy.

' _You need to get through.'_ He led with his shoulder, smashing through the smaller branches. _'Get them to safety. That's all you have to do!'_ The thread bare branches thinned out, replaced by thicker beams.

Chrom paused for only a heartbeat, alighting on one of the branches. In his arms, Lucina gave a pained whine and shivered. She still struggled, trying to fight something. The sight worked a snarl into him and he launched off the branch so hard that it crackled underneath him.

He pushed himself, trying to fly faster… but still not able to outpace the sounds seeping into his head.

' _It ruined our race. Even now, it echoes among humans.'_ Leaves and wind all whispered in his ears, a thousand soft voices teasing his hearing.

' _The madness of eternity.'_ He grit his teeth but couldn't shut the noise out. _'Brand bearer, now carrying the same curse from antiquity…'_

' _I…'_ The voices consolidated, going from myriad whispers to a single voice. Lucina yanked her head back and forth, the left over river droplets steaming on her skin and clothes. _'I feel the heat of your Brands. And now I stir-'_

The light atop the tree was almost blinding, free of the dampening green from the leaves. Chrom squinted against the glare, feet skidding across the new grass underfoot. Lucina flinched from the impact, and odd hum escaping her throat. She turned into a wrenching weight in his arms, tugging Chrom down to his knees. His eyes tried to scan the new surrounding. But the white brilliance of the sun was like a blindfold over his vision. Giving him no answer on what to do. And making it harder and harder to move or think.

-o-o-o-

Morgan slid from Robin's grip, curling against the soft grass of the shrine. Worn buildings chiseled from old stone lined the area, a tiny village cradled by tree branches. Robin stretched her wings, blood still thrumming through them and making them impossible to absorb.

' _We made it, but what now-?'_ The thought cut off. Because Chrom was already sinking to his knees. He touched his forehead, shaking his head back and forth like something was lodged in there.

"Chrom!? Gods Chrom, not you too!" Frustration warred with panic in her voice. Chrom only shook his head, eyes trying and failing to focus on her. This place was sinking its hold into him now, too. How long did she have until they were all lost?

' _Did I make the wrong call? Is there nothing here that can help them!?'_ Maybe all that was here was that voice, drawing her family deeper into a spell.

Robin's head whipped around, desperate to lay eyes on something, _anything_ that could aid them. Her fingers dug crescent shaped jabs of pain into her palm. And the rest of her hand-

The rest of her hand throbbed in a long, painful pulse. Her own Brand wasn't immune to the strange presence of this place, now pressing around her hand and head like a vice.

And it shot hot anger into her heart.

"Who… What are you!?" The words snarled out of Robin's throat. Her back ached, wings churning the air and disrupting the hum of the shrine. It gave her room to left her head, something aching along her cheeks and turning her vision to red.

' _I_ _ **know**_ _something is resting here.'_

"Show yourself!" Robin howled out, a fury twisting her words. "Voice of Naga, WAKE!"

The last word seemed to shake the branches, and shed their leaves in an emerald rain. And with it came a change in pressure around her ears; almost like something listens, and took a deep breath before stirring. A sigh of wind moved over the shrine grounds, brushing the grass with gentle fingers. Yet the wind felt biting on her own skin and she bristled, ready for a fight-

"…Robin?" A faint voice tugged at her hearing, and Robin blinked down to stare at Chrom. The stinging faded from her cheeks when he raised his head, as did the red in her eyes. He took a shuddering breath and she dropped to her knees beside him.

"It… It stopped." Chrom breathed out. "But…I thought I heard a voice. Something about waking up…" He trailed off, staring at something emerging from the main stone structure.

A flicker of motion pulled her gaze up; just the faintest hint of something ghosting its way across the grass. Robin sprang to her feet, trying to yank the Levin sword free from its bindings to fight-

She froze at what she saw, and the sword fell from fingers gone nerveless.

The woman's steps were light, barely stirring the green. Her emerald hair flowed out behind her, teased by some phantom breeze. She moved almost like she was sleep walking, before favoring them with a sleepy blink.

"Dark has been my slumber of late. I dreamed of fire and blood, of a six eyed beast screaming conquest and challenge, and flits of shadow carrying its will… and only myself to struggle against it." She blinked again at them, continuing her odd greeting.

"And yet in the waking world, I'm greeted by greenery and the living… though … there is something about you…" She wobbled a moment, needing to find her balance again. Lucina groaned, twisting onto her back and blinking her eyes open unseeing. Her hand skimmed Morgan's arm, prompting him to do the same… and the green haired girl saw the Brands burning bright in their eyes.

"…The… symbols of Naga?" Her eyes swept up to Chrom, seeing the same symbol on his arm. Her eyes took in the blue hair of Chrom, Lucina, and Morgan.

"…Marth." She whispered, and that roused her into full wakefulness.

"You… are the Voice of Naga?" Robin spoke.

"Yes. However, Tiki is fine for a name. But… what's wrong with these two?" Are they-?" Her words faded again, eyes now settling on the purple marks staining their skin and peeking through rents in the fabric. Tiki's eyes flashed to Robin's, her mind well and truly shaking off its fatigue. "Your children? Children of two Brands…. and I reached out to them in my sleep, sensing Naga. And… something else…" And Robin had already seen her own Brand trying to activate and clashing with what was in their eyes.

"C-can't you help them?" Chrom spoke up. "They're hurting, and we flew here to stop it-" At his words, Tiki pulled at a cord around her neck, drawing up a blue orb at the end of it. The stone gave a soft blue glow… and against that light, Chrom's wings dissolved away. Robin's own changes melted back into her flesh. For their part, Morgan and Lucina stilled, slipping into a calmer sleep.

' _Another Gemstone? And here, of all places?'_

Tiki knelt down next to Lucina, sweeping long green hair free from her face and back behind curiously elongated ears.

She held the gemstone above Lucina and Morgan, eyes settled on them and waiting.

"They must take it of their own will," Tiki said. For a heartbeat, Robin was terrified Lucina's hands would stay at her sides, never to rise again... but somehow, they reached upwards. Morgan did the same as well with one hand, and both fingers brushed against a blue gemstone held out to them.

Lucina let out a long, shuddering gasp, eyes fluttering open and focusing on the faces above her.

"Well…" Came Morgan's voice. "My head's a little clearer, though how we got to the tree is a bit surprising-!?"

His voice cut out in an 'urk' when Robin yanked him up into a hug. "Thank the gods you're okay." She whispered to them.

"And… thanks to Tiki as well." Chrom added, and Robin glimpsed him brushing Lucina's bangs away. For her part, Tiki dipped her head.

"It took me a moment to grasp the situation. But now I see, you have a power much like mine. But what has pushed you to such a state? You seem so broken, and yet- strong... ALL of you."

Tiki's fingers drifted over Chrom's Brand almost touching the scar, before lifting up Lucina's hand. "Your Brands have been damaged. They cannot hold the power in you at check, when they are incomplete."

"Right…" Robin answered. "I was worried that was the case. And now I have your answer on it… even if I come from a different line."

"And which line that is, I cannot say." Tiki said. "I fear sleep dulls some of my memories. But I remember enough about Ylisse's line. I see you keep the Emblem, and the Gemstones."

Chrom didn't fully meet her eyes at that. Robin could guess at what was playing in his head, and found herself speaking. "Yes. At great sacrifice, but yes."

"And yet, you do not have all of the Gemstones? I see only Argent, and Gules."

"...No." Chrom sighed out, helping Lucina to sit up. "We only recently became aware of its power. But I had a hope that you might tell us more."

"How time flies, and tales fade away... still, I'll recall what I can. Even my own memories begin to fade out and turn into half remembered dreams, sometimes. The Gemstones all contain a portion of Naga's power; Argent, the peace maker." She stretched a hand to where Robin had fished the silver gem out.

"Gules, the dragon's flame." She nodded to Morgan. "Azure, to grant truth and clear sight. Vert, the loyal gem, and Sable... for strength in sorrow. Together, they have the power to impart Naga's own powers in the Awakening rite. And... if needed, they can seal a dragon's power away. There is a reason it is also known as the Shield of Seals."

"So... that's why we have more control. Precious little, but still something." Chrom murmured.

"Yes, but only partial. If you wish for complete control, you must find them all." Tiki's eyes looked over them, before settling on Lucina. She stretched her hand out, before pressing Azure into her palm and closing Lucina's fingers around it. "This belonged to a great hero, once. I safe guarded it for a time... but now I think it should be returned to you, princess."

"I…" Lucina took a deep breath, trying to find her voice. "Thank you, lady-"

"LADY TIKI!" Say'ri's voice called out from the entrance of the shrine. The princess dashed through the grass before coming to a stop. "You... you are awake. I am glad- I- I just... need to catch my breath."

The princess bent over, bracing herself on her knees and wheezing for breath. As she tried to get in lungfuls of air, the rest of the Shepherds approached.

"NEXT TIME, let the rest of us get a lift up here so we don't have to climb!" Lissa got just enough breath in her lungs to shout that out, before falling face first into the grass from exhaustion.

-o-o-o-

The activity of camp and usual chatter was more subdued than usual. Something about the Mila Tree encouraged a hushed atmosphere, particularly with nightfall. Not that Lucina could complain; her head was full enough with her own thoughts, without needing any outside noise to add to it. She sat at the edges of the camp, taking in the shrine by moon and starlight.

"There's the conquering hero, I see!" She flinched from Inigo's words, and that earned a concerned noise from him. "What's this? Does my company disgust you that much?"

"N-no," Lucina forced herself to speak, and turn to face Inigo. She saw that he hadn't moved alone, a few of her friends and companions shadowing his steps. "I just… I didn't think you'd want to seek me out, after all that happened."

Inigo waved the concern off… but she didn't miss the way he paused over her, a worried light in his eyes. "I said 'conquering hero' didn't I? I _meant_ what I said. It certainly measures up to the stories we used to hear, and the songs too. Just a little more literal than I was expecting."

"But you're still Lucina. The same Lucina as before." She picked out Cynthia's voice… and something in her eyes sharpened enough, that Lucina could pick out her face in the shadowed group, even with the wane light. "We followed you for a reason, remember?"

"Exactly," Inigo continued. "So don't think you have to play up the lone warrior angle so much." A laugh startled its way out of Lucina at that, and she found herself nodding.

"Alright, you make your point. But… I don't suppose you've seen Morgan? Is he well?"

"Oh, I've seen him around. Told him we're due for another rival sparring match, dragon blood or not." Owain spoke up. "I could send him to you… IF you agree to finish your brooding and come back to camp soon!"

"Alright, alright." Lucina allowed. "Just… in a moment. I want to look at the stars just… a little more. Please?" The receding steps told her the others agreed to this bargain. Lucina turned her eyes back to the night sky, fingers tracing the blue gem now at her side. Something in the stone helped ground her, and kept her from getting too lost in the stars. Even if she lost track of time, gazing up at them.

"Luci-?"

"Oh? Morgan!" She blinked away from the stars, to see a robed figure standing before her. Her brother shifted nervously from foot to foot, before moving to join Lucina.

A companionable silence stretched out, until Morgan cleared his throat.

"Hey, Luci…I… I was wondering something." He swallowed again before blurting out. "I'm still the same Morgan, right? Y-you know, the same little brother as before? Losing my memories didn't change who I am THAT much… right?"

Lucina blinked at the question, and the dour look settled across Morgan's face. The wane light from the moon and stars deepened the shadows around him, adding to the depressed air.

"Morgan, what's gotten into you? I haven't seen you this serious since-" Since their mother and father vanished. At that thought, Lucina knew her head lowered as well.

"Y-yeah but what about before then? I was nicer before, right?" Morgan dared to let a little hope into his voice. "I-I just… I saw things in my dream. I saw ash, smoke… and I just felt this sense of desolation. Like nothing I did mattered anymore."

Morgan sighed, rubbing at his head and wincing. "And it felt familiar. Like some hazy memory."

A blue gloved hand rested on his hair, and Lucina realized it belonged to her. As were the words tumbling out of her mouth.

"I… you did fall deeper and deeper into depression, when Mother and Father disappeared. You'd shut yourself off in studies and refuse to see anyone, just muttering to yourself. But!" She hastened to add. "Before that, you were much brighter and cheerful. Barely a care in the world, actually. It… actually makes me wish you could remember some of the trouble we got into. And the way you'd spring all sorts of 'surprise hug attacks'-"

"No way, I did that!?" Morgan sputtered and she had to laugh.

"Among other things. But…I'm just glad I have you back. More than anything, I'm glad my little brother is back to being himself." Morgan relaxed at that.

"Well, good. That makes me feel a little bit better. Though… I think I remember one more thing in my dream. One burst of anger and needing to help… someone. It's murky, though. And I'm not sure how much I want to dwell on that."

"Believe me, I'm trying to forget my own dreams. The-the less I remember about Grima's roar and six eyes, the better." She took her hand from Morgan and brushed her fingers over the azure gem.

' _I dreamed those six glaring eyes, only for a blue light to shine through them.'_

"I think I need to thank Tiki later, but maybe after a little more star gazing."

"I'd be up for that." Morgan answered. "And I wouldn't mind clearing my head a little more."

They both turned their heads upwards, the stars still wheeling and glimmering overhead.

' _Though… I wonder what it would be like, to fly among them. Like I remember Mother and Father doing.'_

"The hardest part is being human." Tiki's voice yanked Lucina away from her star gazing. The manakete was still gazing up at the sky, a longing look in her eyes. "Holding onto your human shape; not giving in and just flying out into the open sky forever. Being a dragon is easy; you don't have to worry about grief, fear... nothing like that. Only feeling the wind under your wings, the power and legacy of magic in your blood."

Morgan looked like he had a dozen questions buzzing in his brain, over Tiki's sudden arrival and observation. But he settled for one. "Does that happen to all dragons? DID that happen before?"

"Yes, which is why we're all such a rarity now." Lucina couldn't help but notice Tiki included her and Morgan in that statement.

"It's a seductive power. One that's easy to lose yourself in, but harder to find yourself again... that's why we started taking human forms in the first place." Morgan rubbed at his temple, his shoulder giving a brief twitch as well.

"That's in part, why you have your Brands. Naga saw the end approaching her race... but wanted some part of it to live on, in who she chose as her successors." Lucina's eye twitched, realizing what burned bright in it. And she knew there was a blue light glowing in it now. Because the same was true for Morgan, a soft light glimmering and giving everything a tinge of blue.

"Morgan!? Lucina!?" They both yanked their heads up when Robin rushed up to them. Her breath came short, her hands shake when she reached out to them… and her gaze was fixed on their own eyes. And the blue fire in them.

"Are you okay-?" She gasped out.

"Y-yes. It doesn't hurt…" Lucina trailed off on the reassurance, her eyes stretching that little bit wider. It was true though; for the first time in weeks, if not months, her Brand could stir without pain. Tiki merely tilted her head to the azure gemstone. Robin saw Tiki's focus, and turned to bow her head to the manakete.

"Your help, my lady, has been invaluable." Robin looked almost limp from relief. "You've given us something to keep them stable… and that is an incredible boon."

Her mother's shoulders slumped, and she continued ruefully. "So I feel improper for requesting further aid. But if we want to win this war with minimal bloodshed, we need your help-"

"Robin, you speak as though I haven't already made up my mind. I'm not fond of war but… I've seen this pattern before, and I've heard whispers from the Mile tree in my dreams, of the history of this country. Mila was once a guardian of this land, and even if her soul has passed… I hear echoes of her memory and wisdom. And it tells me Walhart stands poised to repeat the same mistakes that plagued this land. And since _you_ are ready to risk your lives and minds, I can hardly sit idly by." Tiki inclined her head to Lucina's family. "I'll make a formal decree tomorrow, but I've decided to aid and accompany you.

A wry smile crossed Tiki's lips for a moment. "Besides… all of you are certainly interesting. I wouldn't want to sleep the next century away when the alternative is traveling with you." Her hands drifted down to a pouch at her side. Just large enough for some sort of stone to be stored.

' _Dragonstone.'_

"To be honest, I think your arrival helped to recharge me… and make me a touch anxious. In fact, I should find the Lady Say'ri to let her know of my plans."

"Fair enough." Robin answered. "I've plenty to think on, now."

-o-o-o-

' _Almost too much to think on,'_ Robin continued the thought privately, gratefully dipping her head to Tiki as the manakete prepared to leave.

"Forgive me for intruding," she turned to her children. The glow to their eyes remained unnerving, but at least caused them no pain.

' _And better blue than a crimson color.'_

"But I noticed your absence from camp, and… well, I worried. I seem to do a lot of that, on my downtime." In a way she was glad Chrom was busy speaking with Lissa and Frederick; he'd probably scold her otherwise.

"Well, on the plus side I think I can tell you not to worry!" Morgan favored her with a brief flash of a grin. "I feel better than ever! And I guess that gemstone of Lucina's has something to do with it."

Lucina raised the gem in question; just like Gules, it looked as though it was once part of the Emblem. And much like Gules, Robin was more interested in her children holding onto it, than placing it in the shield.

"…The heart stays true, when Azure is present." Lucina murmured, gazing at the blue gem. "Strange, how that song becomes more and more true."

Robin blinked at that and felt a smile tug her lips; a set of memories stirred along with it, as did a hum in her own throat. Lucina and Morgan turned to her at the sound, and her smile turned a touch sheepish.

"Lucina, I remember you singing that song, and it accompanying us all through Ylisse and Plegia, like a war-time companion. But… as much as the melody sticks in my head, I don't think I've ever heard all of it."

Morgan scratched at his head. "And I think something about that snatch of song feels familiar to me too. Do you know it Luci? Was it important?"

"I don't know about important, but I've always loved it and hummed it to myself when I'm worried." Lucina admitted. Morgan just gave her a pleading look; the glow of his eyes was dimming, but still lingered enough to illuminate his eyes and give them a sad puppy quality. Lucina sighed and relented under that look.

"Okay, okay. The truth is I... I learned it from Aunt Lissa, before she left in the future." Lucina glanced down. "I hadn't meant to sing it, really. I just hummed it while I was at an inn, and one of the musicians asked me to sing all of it. I'm honestly not much of a singer, either."

"Is it still alright for me to hear it?" Robin pressed. Morgan gave an agreeing hum, hungry for more. Lucina gave a small nod, before gathering her breath. Her voice squeaked a little, but held the song all the same.

"F-far, far away, where night will turn to day,

the lady of dragons lost her name of yore

she left her love behind, and while her heart will pine,

she dreams of flying home once more.

Her king left her five, five tears of crystal stone,

she keeps them close to heart, as she dreams of home,

One silver shard, to let her dream in peace,

One red like blood, quels her fires til they cease,

One shining blue, will let her heart stay true,

The green gives her hope, in its forest hues,

And black as the night, the last is her respite,

To grant strength in sorrow, til the morrow stills her grief...

Far, far away where night will turn to day,

We all will watch and pray,

til a queen's return..."

Lucina trailed off, shaking her head.

"I forget the last words. I don't know if the singer ever finished the song, before..." Before Grima woke, and turned everything to screams; Robin could easily guess at Lucina's thoughts. She shivered from them, stilling only at a hand on her shoulder. The hem of Morgan's sleeve was a little more tattered than Robin's and easily marked who was comforting her, even with their eyes finally dimming.

"It's... nice." Morgan blinked at her. "A little sad, but still nice. Maybe it has a happy ending after all, though. You never know."

Lucina gave a small, breath laugh. "Now THAT'S the Morgan I remember best."

Robin also found herself giving a relieved chuckle. The sight of her children finally shielded from her own blasted mark helped ease some of the weight on her shoulders. As did the rewards the Mila tree was finally giving them.

"You know, for the first time in a while, I think we might be alright."


	44. Change In Fortunes

**Chapter 44: Change in Fortunes**

Flames danced along the blade he held. It was no Falchion, but it cut well enough. Despite the burning in the air the steel and leather never warmed to his hands, carrying with it the chill of the tomb. Just as well; it was the funeral sword he'd been burned with-

Not buried, despite his orders otherwise. He tightened his grip on the blade, and brought it crashing down on the face of a man trying to charge him. The soldier's screams cut out, and Duran spat in distaste.

" _These_ are my enemies?"

"They are the enemies of Valm." An oily voice reached his ears. A little rough from the smoke, but still oozing honeyed words. "These border cities are notorious for harboring Grima's cultists, you know. And those who resist the emperor's will, of course. And every singe one of them deserves but one fate-"

"...Aye, the sword. I KNOW that." Duran didn't look at the speaker at his side. He had little care for the eunuch. "Do not think I've forgotten. My will remains the same-"

A cry from the hills stilled Duran's words.

"Ah, it looks as though our enemies approach. I suppose we could only sack so many towns until Chon'sin finally decided to act." Excellus gave a titter at that, like a child planning some sort of surprise in a game.

' _He's likely plotting something for them… but it doesn't concern me, compared to what else is on the way.'_

"Then I advise you to flee." Duran said. "I know you've no belly for combat, and I do not require your tactics so much that I will put up with you slowing my forces down."

"...Sharp words, Exalt." Excellus sighed. "I pray your blade is just as sharp... but I will follow your command, for now. See to it that you return with a victory under your belt, if you wish to remain in the good graces of Valm."

Duran sneered at that, but said nothing as Excellus climbed atop the horse ready for him. The remaining soldiers Excellus had left to him gathered around Duran, waiting for his next command. Excellus gave one last knowing smirk at them, and then sent his horse off.

 _'I tolerate him and the conqueror for one reason.'_ One he hoped would be fast closing in. He stepped through the burning ruins of the garrison, leveling his eyes on the next town over. That one too would burn, he promised himself. It would act as another signal fire, to draw his chosen targets closer.

After all, what else would his purpose be, but to cleanse the blights that had sprung up on the world?

-o-o-o-

"You march well," her father spoke at her side. For the entire march, he'd kept one eye on her when he should have kept both trained on the horizon.

"I AM well, I promise." Lucina answered. "Thanks in part to the gem." She picked it up from where it hung around her neck. Morgan had fashioned them both crude necklace holders, the gems wrapped in chord so they remained close to their hearts. In answer to the warmth of her hand, the gemstone Azure gave a soft, blue glow. Chrom's eyes and hair both glimmered like blue flame for an instant under its light.

"I'm sorry... I worry for you, even though I see you can handle yourself now." His hand reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

"Father, if anyone should apologize, it is me. You should be focusing on the war, not the health of your daughter-"

"That's enough." Robin's voice drifted in, and she stepped up next to Morgan. "It's natural for a commander to worry over his soldiers... or a parent to worry over his children."

"Aye. I'd be a poor father if I didn't. But I'm glad to see the gemstones are doing their work now." Chrom traced the edge of the Emblem on his arm. "And I think… You should keep them until this is over."

Lucian hesitated at that. There was still something horribly bare about the sight of the Emblem, scoured of most of its gems. It put her shoulders up, her hands balling into fists.

"I... admit I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Surely they would be better suited, being affixed to the Emblem?"

"Mayhaps." Chrom was relaxing enough for both of them, however.

"But I distinctly recall Tiki giving the gemstone to YOU. And Morgan found Gules himself. And I trust them to remain in your keeping; we have the same goals, after all." Lucina forced herself to nod, getting the feeling this wasn't a decision she could get her father to reconsider. Even with a few years less of experience compared to her own timeline, Chrom could still be staunch on things as a parent.

"…Alright, alright. If you're certain-" Lucina paused, eyes narrowing on the sky. Ahead of her the clouds were several steps darker, even with the setting sun turning everything dim. They still had no business being that grayed out.

"MILORD!" Frederick rode up, reining his horse so tight the creature gave a shrill whinny and stamped her hooves to the ground. "Ill tidings up ahead. Virion spots smoke on the horizon, and we are entering back into Chon'sin."

"One of the towns?" Robin snapped to attention. Sumia wheeled in from the sky, landing with a flutter of wings and restless stamping hooves.

"Unfortunately yes." Cordelia was short behind Sumia, with her own report. "Walhart's men have pushed in far. The smoke makes it hard to distinguish things, but we're certain they've torched several border towns-"

"Ylisseans... that isn't a border town." Say'ri's face had gone pale. "I took us on a route to speed us along. We are well inside Chon'sin."

' _Oh no… and we left most of our soldiers in the interior, watching the capital!'_ Lucina yanked her eyes to the horizon. More smoke marred the sky, coming from a dozen sources.

"Damnation." Robin spat out. "Chrom, we have to take point and fast. Grab a horse for Virion to ride, and send Cherche with Say'ri. She should take Lon'qu as well; together they should act as a scouting party that can defend themselves. We need to get an idea of what we're facing, and rush to aid any friendly forces we find. Most of the Shepherds should follow Say'ri at a measured pace, to support and rally any of our troops. And-"

"I will go as well." Tiki's voice was soft, but decisive. Say'ri blinked at that, and if anything went paler.

"Lady Tiki, are you certain of this?"

"Indeed, I am. My strength is slowly returning, and I have enough to see us through any skirmishes. I wish to help as much as you do."

Robin nodded, looking like that settled the matter. Before Robin could turn and ask if Lucina and Morgan were ready, she'd shared a look with her brother. And they'd both moved up to Robin's side. Ready for whatever was facing them.

-o-o-o-

The horse's sides heaved, their hooves churning dirt and grass underneath them. Say'ri let her own beast have its head and drive faster to the top of the ridge. She focused on getting a precious few clean breaths of air; the countryside was thick with smoke, and her heart raced and throat twisted as she tried to figure out how many settlements had been put to the torch.

"Gods and fire, what's happened!?" Say'ri spat out in disbelief. "How did the conqueror cut into the interior so quickly-?"

"...Outside help. What else would it be." A voice grumbled close by her. A brown haired swordsman rode close by her, the blue of his robes catching in the breeze as the horses galloped. She remembered the name Robin assigned to him; Lon'qu. A name that easily Chon'sin. The swordsman refused to meet her eyes, instead focusing on the billows of smoke.

"He also stole a march on us, milady." Virion spoke up. The archer was already loosing the bow from his back, and there was no hesitation in him now. No sign of a coward. "That, and if Lon'qu is right, and if he has obtained a new commander with fresh energy and a rash disposition, that would easily help him attack and roll up territory. All the way to Chon'sin."

"But how far-?" Say'ri managed, right as they hit the ridge.

Hell looked back at her. All around, smoke and ash choked the sky, rising up in thick, billowing dark clouds. Down in the valley, the rivers ran red as they caught flames and what had to be blood spilling into them.

The remaining robes of Chon'sin blade masters were only a few threadbare markers. The troops that her brother must have led... they were beginning to break, and scatter. At least those who were still alive, and weren't strewn dead in what used to be farmer's fields.

And beyond them, the capital blazed like a funeral pyre. The oily black clouds flew from burning buildings and carried screams with them. Wings of red armored troops swept the grounds, churning what was once green into muck. A sick feeling twisted into her throat, and her eyes stung from smoke and tears as she stared down.

"Don't lose your courage!" A new voice called down from above Say'ri, followed by hoarse coughing as Cherche raised her voice. "I-I can see some of the forces are spread thin in one of the rivers!" Say'ri narrowed her eyes, and through the haze she saw Cherche's target; a thinning in the red armor, down to a single line of troops and a murky river. "We might be able to punch through-"

"And secure an escape route for our surviving forces, if nothing else." Virion finished. "My lady, we might not be able to win the day, but-"

Say'ri had already spurred her horse forward, tearing down the slope and towards the weak point in the enemy lines. She drew her own blade, flexing her sword arm as she prepared to crash into them. But a second later, something beat her to the strike; a whirlwind of steel, and a single growled phrase.

"Be SILENT." Say'ri vaulted from her own saddle to meet the attackers, and found herself shoulder to shoulder with the swordsman, charging the soldiers together.

"...Keep close." Was all Lon'qu said to her. Say'ri narrowed her eyes at Lon'qu. She swore she'd heard tales of a Chon'sin swordsman once, years ago who had fled across the sea into Ferox to escape... something. The man was, if nothing else, frighteningly skilled with a blade.

But she was not about to allow herself to be shown up as a poor second to this man, whoever he was.

"I need no guardian. Only a soldier ready to fight." He huffed out at her words, with something that could have been a chuckle. There was almost a flash of respect in his eyes. Say'ri did not allow herself to dwell on it, instead rushing forward.

Grass turned to sand, then to mucky water. Their robes went waterlogged in a breath, and the muck sucked at their steps, turning the charge into a trudge. But if the chill of the water slowed them, it did worse for the Valmese. Their armor bogged them down, and gave nearest bunch of Chon'sin a friendly target to move towards. There were flashes of blue and green Ylissean uniforms in their numbers, and even some pale blue from Rosanne. But there was still a fist of Valmese troops standing between Say'ri and her allies. And what strength her allies did have was strained, making them hard pressed to reach Say'ri's reinforcements.

Over head, she swore she caught a flash of something bright. Brighter than pegasus feathers, with a metallic sheen-

A loud roar echoed down, before part of the Valmese line was bathed in dragon fire.

' _Tiki.'_

A beautiful pale form cut through the smoke as she strafed the ranks, more flame billowing from her jaws.

"THE VOICE! Naga's Voice!" One of the Chon'sin warriors yelled out, raising a ragged cheer from the defenders. Tiki landed next to Say'ri, who raised her blade.

"Chon'sin! To me! Form a line, and hold it! We can buy time for the escape of our countrymen, but you MUST stand firm!" She prayed her voice rang with command. Her eyes scanned the soldiers running towards her… yet she could not pick out Yen'fay. So it fell to her to hold their lines, as long as she could.

She only prayed he would appear soon, with the reinforcements she desperately needed.

-o-o-o-

Chrom didn't know if he'd ever grow used to this. The way fire lit a spark in his heart. The call of blaze and smoke. The sound of swords didn't help, and they were running straight towards the source of the ringing steel. Buildings of a town rose before them, looking gaunt in the smoke haze, and gutted of normal citizens.

With how his children faltered in their dash, they weren't used to it yet either. But then Robin laid a hand on Morgan's shoulder and whispered something. Morgan raised Gules up, and the fire in Chrom's blood dulled against the crimson light. His pulse quieted, enough for him to hear shouts ahead.

"BURN THEM ALL OUT! Cut down any you see, and let none of them live! Purge them all!" A man in armor a cut above the normal troops shouted, the smoke lifting enough to frame him taking over the town's square. The soldiers around him roared, raising blade and torch both in the sky. Chrom choked back a curse as he watched them fall upon the town, streaming through the streets and setting all alight.

There was an uncomfortable zealous echo to the words. Something just on the edge of his memory, teasing at Chrom's thoughts and sent chills down his spine at odds with the growing blaze.

"They scream their cause is righteous... so why can I see the whites of their eyes all the way from here?" Robin was at his side, hand already going to her spell tome. Her features showed caution as well, but her feet no sign of turning and fleeing back through the town gates. "What is causing them such fear?"

Chrom drew Falchion, glaring down the length of the blade at the Valmese.

"Maybe they fear the same thing driving them to such a favor but… they are anything but righteous."

Rage began to kindle in his heart, and he gladly let it wash over himself. "We stop them here; not one more town. Come on!"

Smoke stung at his eyes, blown into them with how he charged. A drum of feet told him Robin was close by his side. Smoke and flame closed in around them, and heat bit at his face. He could still feel Gules close by, sapping away the worst of the fire fever; Morgan had followed them in as well-

And Lucina easily caught them up. She launched into the first attackers, laying about with Falchion. The blue of Lucina's eyes blazed against the orange flames. The remaining frontline shrank from her gaze, and scattered before her.

One dropped his torch, sending up cinders to mingle with the smoke. Chrom squinted against the blaze, running in to meet a soldier with his strike. His arm was already beginning to throb, and Chrom welcomed the strength it gave him.

The faster they could drive this group from the town, the faster they could join Say'ri's forces. Flames bloomed along his shoulder, shining blue against the crimson enveloping the town. He matched Lucina's strikes, clearing a path for them. Robin and Morgan both focused on spell fire, as Chrom found himself taking point.

The one who had shouted commands to the troops now stood in their way. He whirled around to face Chrom, bringing a spear to bear. Chrom rushed the man in a blaze of blue flames and knocked the point of the spear aside with one blow.

He prepared to follow up with another-

Only for the foe to fall back, staring at him in shock. The spear fell from fingers gone suddenly nerveless. The man didn't go for the weapon, eyes all white and darting from the blue fire to Chrom's face, undecided on which terrified him more.

The shock written across his face was enough to stall Chrom mid-strike.

"Who- what manner of doppelgänger are you?" The man rasped out. All the others had scattered away, and he fell backwards as he tried to retreat from Chrom.

' _Doppelgänger?'_ Chrom shook his head, but it didn't clear his thoughts. He tried to step closer to the man, only for the soldier to scramble back with a shout.

"Enough! I yield! I yield-" His words died out with a gurgle, as a blade burst from his chest. The force of the blow forced the man up onto his feet as he strained and thrashed against the blow that fell from behind.

 _'But I thought there were only more Valmese back there-'_ Chrom thought, right as a voice snapped out.

"You wretched coward. How quickly you forget the cause, when a false leader stands before you. I have no need of weak men like you." A voice, strong and sharp, pressed at Chrom's ears. Something about it made Chrom freeze in his tracks, and halt the change sweeping his arm. The scales froze where they pushed through his skin.

The sword withdrew from the soldier's ribs, and he was flung aside, broken. A man wrapped in the heat haze of the burning town stood behind the dead fighter.

"Die on your feet or knees... it makes no difference to me." Chrom's breath joined the rest of him in freezing at the voice, feeling something else jabbing its way past the battle haze and yanking at his memories-

' _I've heard that voice before. I've heard that scorn.'_

"The rest of you... unless you want to share his fate, meet these Ylisseans. They are NOTHING before you. Their leader is weak... and I will prove that now." The remaining Valmese were spurred forward by unseen whips, the Shepherds flowing around Chrom to form wings and walls to meet the rush.

The figure with the bloody sword stepped through the haze, eyes focused on Chrom.

And the world lurched to a halt. Warmth was sucked out of the air once the warrior's eyes found Chrom's.

They were familiar eyes, blue ones cold as ice. Set in an equally familiar face, weathered by countless battles and with a hard, ruthless expression permanently set into the features. Blue hair had been brushed out of the man's face. And on his neck was an old healed up scar, cut into and disfiguring a familiar mark.

The flames on Chrom's shoulder flickered, his brand throbbing as he pieced all those things together. Lucina stopped in her tracks as well, staring up at him.

"No-" Chrom felt his words rasp out around a dry throat. "That... that isn't possible."

The specter stood before him, and began to walk. The thud of his boots echoed loud in Chrom's ears, too solid to belong to anything BUT flesh and blood.

 _'But it... it can't be. This isn't real. He died, he's gone he can't-'_ The words ran together in panic, only to scatter like startled birds when the man before him spoke.

"So at last we meet again, Chrom. Would that I could say I am glad to see you... but I detest dishonesty just as much as I do traitors." The words lashed at his ears, as the world spun around Chrom in a haze of fire and smoke. He felt his balance start to give out-

Only for someone to catch him by the unmarked shoulder, and just barely hold him up. But her grip was shaking as well. Robin had only seen this man in paintings, Chrom knew... but she was also well aware of who she was gazing upon.

"You can't be... Duran?" Robin whispered out.

"EXALT Duran." The voice snapped out. "You will remember that."

"This… cannot be. This is _impossible."_ Came a new voice. He'd never heard such confusion in Frederick's voice before. It did nothing to ease the roil his stomach had turned into. The rest of Frederick's words came muffled, as though from underwater. "He's dead. I heard every report that he died. I saw the body burn-"

"Even death can be overcome, when the work of the gods is left unfinished." Duran's voice slid out, a faint accusing edge to it.

"Frederick. Step aside. I have… business with my progeny." Duran snapped the order out, still razor edged with authority. But Frederick stood firm, guiding his horse between Duran and Chrom. Duran narrowed his eyes at that, and for an instant the fire picked out strange red sparks in his irises.

The next breath Duran rushed Frederick. The knight brought his spear up, trying to parry the attacks… but Chrom saw how heavy Frederick's arms were. The knight didn't have the strength or clarity to oppose one ruler, in favor of another. His movements were too slow, confusion and doubt making him hesitate.

That was all Duran needed, callously knocked the spear aside, and then bringing his sword pommel crashing down on Frederick's throat.

"FRE-!" Robin screamed out, but couldn't even finish her cry when the knight toppled from the saddle, dazed from the strike. Duran didn't bother to finish his work, stepping over Frederick's stunned form.

"You can't be real. You died!" Chrom finally found words, and he hurled them out as if he could make the specter vanish with them.

"And was raised again, by Naga's will. It seems much of her will has been left incomplete... or undone. By my own blood, no less." Duran's voice was thick with malice, and disappointment. Chrom wasn't sure which cut at his ears more.

The old king let his eyes flicker away from Chrom, looking instead with distaste at Robin.

"Polluting the Exalt line with such twisted blood, your children twisted mockeries bearing twin Brands. I came back to fix the wrongs done in my family name... and it appears I will be able to start with you." The bloody sword leveled itself at Chrom's heart, as Duran stepped forward. Chrom's own limbs were frozen, his mind spinning in desperate circles-

"Stay away from my family!" Lucina screamed out, her blade flashing red as she tried to drive Duran back. She swung at his head, and with a blur Duran's blade whipped around. Trails of blood left it and splashed the ground as he parried the blow.

Lucina moved to strike again, only to fall back as a cut opened along her collarbone. The blue of her eyes faded out, staring at the crimson streaming off her body. Duran's sword didn't pause, slamming into Falchion and spinning it out of her grip.

When Lucina dropped to her knees, Chrom found himself snapped out of his paralysis. His breath rushed out in a roar as he closed with his father. The sword swung down, only to slam to a halt, met by Duran's sword. Each strike of Falchion was a crash of thunder, as he struck and was met with steel. It was like trying to slice his way through a wall.

Chrom didn't see the counterstrike coming, anymore than Lucina had. Something rasped against the scales of his arm, jumped the distance to his chest and cut open a line of red. Scales and flesh both gave pulses of hurt, slowing him down for an instant. Duran's fist caught him in the gut at that same instant, and sent Chrom spinning back. He skidded to a halt, stopping just short of where Lucina knelt. Duran glared at them both for their impertinence, another spark of red showing in his eyes.

"Stay back!" Morgan saw the red in his grandfather's eyes, and something about it brought extra, desperate fuel to his spells. Fire rushed at Duran, but the former Exalt lifted his sword, swiping, parting and parrying the flames. The Brand on his neck blazed like a hot coal, gave him strength against Morgan's spells. No matter how desperately Morgan lobbed fire at him, none of it struck Duran's flesh. That fire itself seemed to suck energy from Morgan and taxed Gules to a blazing limit. Morgan's eyes went dull from the excess, dropping him to his knees and slumped against Lucina.

"Y-you won't lay a finger on them-" Chrom still chocked out, struggling to his feet, and the flames sparked along him to add strength to that claim.

"…So. It is as I heard. You're ridden by dragons. I only wish someone more worthy could take their blessing. It's plain you barely control it, if at all."

Chrom narrowed his eyes on Duran's smoldering Brand, the scar tissue a lurid pink. Frederick's voice thrummed in his mind, recounting how Duran had sunk deeper into his campaign after receiving the wound.

"Were you any different? With your thirst for blood and conquest, blinding you?" The words burned on his tongue. And made Duran tense with a rumble at the back of his throat. Duran raised his sword up, and the fire light ran down the pitted, pitiless blade. Worn as the sword was, it still held an edge and would easily cut through him-

"NO!" His eyes caught on a purple mark, blazing bright on a hand. Gripped between those hands was a sword.

Duran's weapon halted against the jagged blade. The two weapons spat sparks from the clash. Duran's sword rasped across the zigzag points of the sword, and sent the snaps of lightning across Robin's face. Her features screwed up in pain and concentration, her hands tightened around the hilt of the Levin sword. She braced her feet, trying to throw Duran off balance and away from where her family crouched.

"Step aside." Duran snapped out. "You don't need to rush your way into getting cut down; I will deal with you in due time."

"You may have been an Exalt once." Robin answered, "But that doesn't mean I have allegiance to you, or need to answer to your orders."

Duran's answer was wrenching his blade loose, and slashing at her face. Robin barely brought her own sword up in time to stop the cut from taking her head off. The parry did nothing to stall Duran however and he only redoubled his efforts, tearing away at Robin's defense.

There was something to Chrom's own technique, in how strong his stabs and attacks were. A relentless tide of aggression; it was almost as if her was watching a mirror battle with his wife. But if it put a nauseated knot in his own throat, it gave Robin some insight and familiarity in how to block and dodge. She read Duran's movements before they had a chance to land, side stepping and parrying no matter where Duran tried to strike.

But for all of Robin's insight, the swords were showing the signs of strain, metal flaking away in a shimmering steel snow-

And then breaking in a screech of steel, both swords shattered into shards.

But Robin had one last trick up her sleeve.

A knife flashed into her hands, and Robin drew it with a furious slash at Duran's face. His father turned his head just in time, and she scored a hit across his cheek instead.

Blood welled up from the line crossing his face... but with it, just for an instant, Chrom saw something else thread up from the red as well. A sharp wisp of purple smoke.

"Plegian witch," Duran spat out. And it wasn't blue in his eyes just then, but a fierce, unnatural red light that glimmered across them.

 _'Risen. Gods help me, but whatever else he is, it is NOT a vessel formed by Naga's will.'_

A shard from the weapons had caught Duran at the throat, and his scar opened at last. Not a wide wound, but Duran fell back, clasping a hand to his neck. Smoke drifted out, in the place of blood. His form shimmered for a brief instant, like a mirage. It flickered at the edges-

Were those flames he saw? For a moment they wreathed his father's shoulders like a second cloak, as the king glared at him. He staggered, the tears and disarming Robin had inflicted finally catching up to him.

A baleful glow snapped between blue and red in his eyes, as Duran knelt to seize a new weapon. His arms shook as he wrenched the weapon up, but he still held it fast. A golden sword was gripped in his hand, and Lucina made a pained noise at what he held.

"F-falchion-" Chrom tried to stagger forward, to stop Duran… but instead the former Exalt fell back, staying just out of reach.

"...Damn you. You wretched child, and your fell blood witch." He hissed out, as the flames blazed around him. They cut into Chrom's vision. Even his eyes narrowing to slits was not enough to stop his world from going white. He clapped his hands over his eyes, blinking as he tried to clear them.

When he looked up, the village was a blurry, smoldering mess. And Duran had vanished with the worst of the flames.

-o-o-o-

The reinforcements weren't coming; only ragged escapees.

Soldiers gathered at their rough lines, carved into the river banks. Many of them wounded… and even more of them with an odd, broken look in their eyes when they reached Say'ri. Something had the remnants spooked, and retreating.

No matter how Say'ri called out to them, the soldiers were slipping through her fingers, staggering off in a desperate escape that barely held off from being a rout.

Tiki crashed to the frontline, spitting another volley of fire to try and give them breathing room. Even the bright scales of Naga's Voice were flecked with glowing blood; arrows and javelins had found their marks. And that sight only speeded the retreat.

"What's gotten into them!?" Say'ri shouted, to all but deaf ears. A hand fell on Say'ri's shoulder, and she followed it to see Virion. His eyes were on the next ridge where the ramparts to Chon'sin's capital began. The formerly white walls were stained by smoke… and grisly new trophies from the conquerer, now hung on spikes.

"Oh… oh gods. Those are heads." And she KNEW the glimmering headsets on two of them. The marks of the royal family. Sayer's stomach turned into a cold weight… yet there was one head absent from the spokes. Yen'fay.

"My lady…" Virion whispered, eyes on something gathering along the ridge. Walmart's armored soldiers formed in a line. And with them was a familiar silver haired man. At first Say'ri dreaded Yen'fay was going to be executed before her eyes.

"Impossible…" Lon'qu growled, right as Say'ri saw how Yen'fay stood at ease among the red armored troops and cavalry. Not a captive, but an ally.

' _Impossible!'_ Her mind was an anguished echo of Lon'qu's words. Now she knew why her soldiers fled… and that she would have to follow them in disgrace.

-o-o-o-

The broken shards of Robin's sword still sparked, sending bolts of yellow out across the ash and worn down roads. The electricity bit at her fingers, from where Robin had slumped to the ground in exhaustion. She wasn't alone, in how her family were in various stages of collapse.

Morgan was drained still, unable to do more than rest a hand on Lucina; she couldn't even find her own feet.

"Falchion..." Lucina's hands went to her sword belt, a lost look falling over her face when she found the scabbard empty. "He... he took it."

Her eyes were stretched wide, disbelief as if it was her own hand missing.

"Somehow…he can still wield it." Lucina continued. Her blood began to steam, the wound slowly mending.

"Even if he's supposed to be in the grave," Chrom groaned out, wobbling on his feet. "Duran remains of Naga's blood."

"But how..." Morgan finally rasped out.

"Grima." Robin felt the word slide out between her lips like a curse. "I know for a fact it wasn't Naga who raised him, no matter what he says. Grima is the one we can thank for the Risen. And it seems we've got one more obstacle to face off against."

Chrom gave a hesitant nod, his hand finding hers to convince himself of the truth.

 _'He is still Chrom's father... and I know what it's like to be confronted with a strange reality.'_

The smoke shifted about, and cleared some of the heat haze; beyond the Shepherds rushed the last of the Valmese troops off, securing a perimeter at the town… and yet not moving beyond it. Robin's eyes narrowed, and from something other than smoke.

With some squinting, she picked out another group rushing over the hills and joining up with the vanguard. Say'ri's group. Robin forced herself forward to meet the others. From the groan behind her, Chrom was doing the same. Frederick was also finding his feet with Sumia's help, shaking off his daze.

"More ill news." Virion spoke for Say'ri. The sword princess had her face buried in her hand, and her sides shivered. Tiki stood next to her, a hand on her shoulder to help and steady her... but Say'ri still wouldn't look up at any of them.

"Chon'sin is fallen. We managed to help some of the refugees escape into allied lands. But the king and queen have both fallen to Walhart."

"He put their heads on spikes..." Say'ri's voice echoed out, hollow.

"Oh gods-" Chrom choked out. "What about Yen'fay? Is he-"

"Alive." Now a bitter note crept into Say'ri's voice. "Alive... and turn cloaked. Walhart has found his commander for the southern forces. Damn them both."

"It gets worse. The snows are beginning to melt in the northern parts of Valm. Our allies are beginning to fold. Even with the Lady Tiki calling them to unite... doubt is in many of their hearts. Walhart's bold press didn't help to convince anyone, either. They don't see how they can stand against a conqueror." Virion rubbed at his forehead with a pinched expression. "In a way, I cannot blame them. Within a matter of weeks, all of the Valmese army well be bearing down on us as others fold under the force."

All of the eyes turned up to look at Robin.

"...If we have any hope, we'll need a plan." Say'ri spoke at last. "And it MUST be a good one."

Or a near miracle, Robin thought to herself.


	45. Breathing

**Chapter 45: Breathing**

Dour, gray rain continued to haunt their retreat. It may have covered the tracks of the Shepherds and their allies, and it may have slowed any heavily armored pursuit, but it made for a dismal mood. Flavia and Basilio's reports did nothing to help with that; when the Chon'sin prince turned his cloak, more than a few of the allied soldiers followed. Whether due to his leadership, the threat from the conquerer, or their own reasons, the results were all the same. Valm had gained an extra army to throw at the resistance, and a general lead it. Further reports said that some of the dynasts at the initial meeting had also been swayed to join the conquerer instead of resist. Scouts said that the rider Pheros had been witnessed riding in the ranks, dressed in gleaming armor, and that Yen'fay had been spotted carrying a the same seven sectioned sword that once belonged to Chon'sin; now in service to Walhart instead.

Chrom simply bowed his head under the facts and the rain both, as he left the strategy tent. Frederick walked with him, but most of the commanders and advisors remains in the tent; Flavia and Virion remained pouring over maps with Robin. Making last minute plans and adjustments, as their route slowly pulled them towards new battle.

From the foot falls at the back of the tent, Chrom also knew Basilio was making his last preparations. And trying not to have anything that Lucina said rattle him.

"Good speed, Basilio…" Robin gave a soft murmur, just drifting out of the tent's interior.

Behind Chrom, the tent flap fluttered; more people exiting the planning area to enact more of the plans. Basilio was among some of those numbers, walking proud enough; Chrom just hoped they all had a hope of carrying those plans out.

' _We're going to be hard pressed.'_ Robin's words echoed in his head. _'Not only are we fighting against superior numbers, but some of them are former allies. We can't afford the hit and run tactics anymore; they can easily bleed us out first. So our stand will have to be decisive.'_ Say'ri had told them what she could about the area they marched towards. Mountainous, inhospitable… but with a few features that drew Robin's attention. And planted a desperate idea in her head.

Chrom's feet scuffed at the ground; the path was growing more rough each day, with extra bucketfuls of gravel to shift and rasp underfoot. Frederick had to be having conniptions over it.

"I hope you're not working yourself into a wreck over this." Chrom said out loud. Near his side Frederick shook his head.

"Sire, I believe the proper order of things is for ME to worry over you."

"Well, if I recall correctly you're instrumental to Robin's plan and holding parts of the line. And… besides that there's-" Everything that had happened. They'd tried not to speak too much about the specter that had risen up from the grave… so naturally most of the Shepherds knew about it, even those who hadn't fought in the battle. A haunted look settled in Frederick's eyes. The knight's condition had mirrored most of the camp; tired, downcast, more than a little bewildered at the turn of events, and trying hard not to show it.

"…Aye, Duran. I may be a coward, but I pray we've put enough distance between ourselves and him."

Chrom hated the shiver that tried to build in his arms, something completely unrelated to the chill and the damp. "…I'm still coming to grips with it. Several days and I'm still wondering if this is all some sort of bad fever dream, and we'll all wake up from it."

The briefest touch rested near his elbow, calming him. Chrom blinked, to see Robin had caught up with the rest of them.

"Flavia's scouts report that most of our resistance will be from native Valmese." No sign of Duran then; it almost made Chrom wonder if it all had somehow been a hallucination. But then, hallucinations didn't Frederick nodded at that. "But… I hope you'll accept me ordering you to get some rest?"

"I suppose I can accept that, milady." Chrom fought down a smile at that; hard to believe that they'd all once been at odds, back in the Plegia campaign. "Good, because consider that instructions from me as well, Frederick. You've done all you can for now, helping us plan."

As Frederick acknowledged with a quick bow, Chrom found himself wishing he could convince himself the same; that he could rest for at least an evening and not have his throat go dry. That Duran's words didn't haunt him whenever he let his thoughts wander. At least Robin was there, to gently guide him out of the rain and towards the tents. Left alone, he'd probably freeze under the rain. Though to his surprise, it wasn't their tent she led them towards. Instead Robin pulled back the canvas of a paler blue tent aside, to show two familiar blue haired figures inside.

Lucina paced the length of the tent, her grip tracing over the hilt of a new sword. While the blade was of superior make, it still wasn't Falchion... and she clearly felt the difference, her eyebrows scrunched and her mouth twisted into a contemplative frown. Chrom guessed his wasn't the only mind caught up in the past battle. But she paused when she heard the footsteps and the canvas being pushed aside, and turned to face Chrom and Robin. Morgan was huddled on one of the cots, holding a pillow he had his head slumped against. His free hand idly turned pages through a book, but he didn't seem to be reading them. Like Lucina, his head jerked up at their arrival.

"Lucina, Morgan? Will you be well?" Chrom found himself asking. They'd been at the strategy meeting as well, but were among the first to excuse themselves; likely because they weren't all that thrilled at their own roles, but weren't in the mood to argue.

' _But can you blame her? Lucina told Basilio point blank that going north to divert some of Walhart's forces would end in his death. And yet still… we're so hard pressed that we don't have much in the way of options.'_ And they HAD to believe that destiny could be changed; that Lucina herself was proof of that, as was the fact they still carried the Emblem.

Lucina lifted her head to them, considering Chrom's question. The storm still hadn't lifted from her eyes.

"In truth, I'd rather be fighting by your side and Mother's." Lucina admitted. Morgan just stared morosely at the pillow in his arms. "I understand why you've given us this task... and I understand it is an important task. But my feelings remain the same."

"I think we'd feel more at ease if you were by our sides as well." Chrom sighed. Robin's head bobbed up and down once, to drive the home point. "But as you said... the tasks we all have are more important. If fate is with us, we will fight again later."

"And that this isn't a repeat of the Mila tree..." Morgan gave a mumble, face still resting half in the pillow.

"Ah... about that. There's a reason I visited your tent." Chrom reached to his back, undoing the straps. Morgan yanked his head up, already recognizing the glimmer peeking over Chrom's shoulder. Chrom shifted the Emblem in his hands, before holding it out to both of his children. "If I cannot fight by your side... this is the next best thing."

"Father, that's-" Lucina stared at him in disbelief.

"It's your birthright, as much as Falchion is. Please," he pushed the Emblem forward, and more by reflex than anything, Lucina's hands closed around it. He felt her tensing up, trying to push it back to him.

' _Is this close to what Emm felt? I know it's something she would do, to safeguard her family.'_ And not the actions of a warlord, hoarding power and taking it even from his own family.

"Father, it's too much! You want US to have the Emblem!? We already have two gemstones," her hand tried to reach for the cord at her neck, but was stopped short by the Emblem. "But this-"

Yet for all that Lucina protested, her hand was fixed on the shield. And the contact dispelled some of the tension that had wound her so tight. Her eyes weren't swayed the same way however, and locked on Chrom. Pleading for him to reconsider.

Instead he nudged it further towards her.

"Robin and I won't be going in unguarded. We'll have Argent with us… and given that we're borrowing Gules for this plan, I feel that evens out the balance of artifacts we have between us." He tried to point out, but Lucina remained unconvinced.

"And our control gives me confidence." Robin continued. "Besides, we don't plan on direct combat in the first place, if the plan goes well. If we do end up closing with our enemies, Argent will be there to safeguard us."

Slowly, the pressure in Lucina's shoulders relented. She didn't fully meet his eyes, as shame flickered across her face.

"And it's your birthright." Robin reinforced Chrom's words. "You have a right to it's protection, and now more-so than ever. And if anything goes truly wrong… I know we can rely on you to safe guard it from any who try to take it."

And it would do her some good, Chrom knew. To prove her capabilities, after Duran had shattered them with the theft of the parallel Falchion.

"...I wish this wasn't needed. I wish we had the strength and control not to require it." Lucina whispered out, her voice heavy and almost choked. Chrom saw how she swallowed after each word, and frustration made her cheeks sting a light pink.

"Yeah, but... we don't have that." Morgan spoke. He stood up from his cot, walking over to Lucina. "Trust me, I wish for the same. But… I've played out the scenario several times, and if it goes badly then it's better that we're holding onto it. And have a chance to turn the tide with it."

He rubbed at his shoulder; with the tacticians cape off and resting on a nearby chair, Chrom saw the six eyed mark.

"So I can't argue with the tactics. The fact is we aren't ready yet... and we need a leg up if we're going to do our tasks. Plus... with Basilio gone, we need someone to lead the reserves. They'll take heart if it's you, Lucina. Once and future Exalt and all that." He managed a weak smile at the end of it.

"...Morgan, do you always have to be such a know it all?" The bitterness was out of Lucina's voice as she spoke, and she held the Emblem close to her chest as she looked at her brother. "But very well. I won't argue with the decisions... and I will try and get some rest."

-o-o-o-

Overhead, the stars illuminated the camp. This far from any village, Chrom could pick out them all. Robin's head tilted up, and he knew she was looking for some familiar constellations. In Ylisse lore there was supposed to be five gemstones scattered across the sky as well.

"A little too early in the night for it, I suppose. It rises later here as well." Robin admitted, giving up the search.

"We at least posses three gemstones of our own." And he prayed it would be enough to keep Morgan and Lucina safe. Even with their control increasing... he had no delusions of what they'd be facing soon. His shoulders twitched for a moment, phantom wings trying to flex out. In his memories, he remembered a screaming, tortured roar echoing off of stone and sand.

 _'Never again.'_ He'd never see a repeat of what had happened in Plegia, if it was in his power. Robin could have well been thinking the same thing, as she pulled her head away from the stars. Instead she gazed across the camp, a thoughtful but worried look playing across her face.

"Well, that makes all the preparations we can manage." Chrom found himself speaking to his wife's shoulders, still clearly tensed underneath her cloak. "...Meaning it would be best if we found our way to bed, love."

"You-"

"I'm not going on ahead with out." He wrapped his arms around her sides as he spoke, prompting a surprised noise out of Robin. He turned her away from the planning tent, and towards their own. And he half marched her past the flap and inside, as she tried to find some sort of objection; something that she still needed to plan out, some detail she was sure she overlooked.

"Robin... peace. You've done all you can." And… he needed her just then. Have her keep any doubts and fears at bay, just by her presence alone. Chrom wondered if some of that trickled into his voice, as she turned to look at him. The candles in their tent cast a faint light, but there was still worry in her eyes as she watched him.

"Done everything I can…Except perhaps tend to the last of my family." Robin whispered out, as her hand lifted up to rest against his cheek. Chrom turned his head into the touch, shutting his eyes to take in more of the contact. They opened again when Robin pressed her lips to his. It was a cautious first kiss; the first they'd had in so many days.

 _'Too many days,'_ Chrom corrected himself, and pressed back as his arms tightened their hold. Robin cupped his face in her hands, slowly moving her fingers so they brushed the back of his neck. Chrom let out a soft murmur at the touch, and Robin answered.

They only broke apart long enough to cast off their armor and some of their clothing. It was hard to say whether Robin tackled him into their shared cot, or he yanked her down into it.

Either way, the end result was him laying on his back with her nestled in his arms.

"Chrom, what about you?" Robin finally spoke into the silence, when it became clear sleep wasn't going to come for either of them right away. Not with how his heart thrummed, and he could hear an echo of her own.

"Well enough. I... still have trouble coming to grips that was my father, even days after the fact." His breath sighed out, as he moved his grip on Robin. "...I hope Lissa is managing. Though she managed to avoid the worst of the confrontation."

"She'll find her comfort and strength, just as you have." Robin's smile was warm... yet it didn't fully reach her eyes.

"...You're thinking of your own parents?" He hazarded a guess.

"...Yes." Robin glanced down at his collarbone, and spoke into his throat. "I... I still remember so little. No memories of my father, even now. Not that I'm in a rush, when it comes to _him_. But my mother..."

He felt a familiar shiver and wince rush through her. He shifted his fingers so they traced a line down her back. Something about the touch eased Robin's breathing, and her words flowed out again.

"The only fragments I have are childhood ones... nothing more immediate. And even those are hazy. But there are a few things I'm certain of. I know she was Plegian. We'd fled across the border from something... so I know that much of Validar's words are true."

"No notion on what you were running from?"

"It... it may have been around the same time Duran began hostilities. We could have been trying to seek refuge in Ylisse. But I also..." She screwed her eyes shut, concentrating. Instinct told Chrom to keep his hands still, as his wife searched for every scrap of memory or detail she had uncovered.

"...We moved around so often. We truly were wanderers. I can _just_ barely remember learning to read spell script from her, on nights where we settled down from traveling. I'm sure she taught me how to fight with a blade, as well." Robin's eyes opened at last, finding him. There was a strange, cautious light shining in them. "And I think it wasn't just to defend ourselves from bandits. We were... being chased."

Despite the warmth from their shared bodies, a chill tried to latch onto his skin.

"You're certain?"

"I don't have any concrete memories of her saying WHAT we were running from. But I remember a sense of urgency plaguing us so often. I can so easily picture her always looking over a shoulder, keeping one eye open for trouble." Robin lifted her head, and looked across the tent to where their weapons were stored. To the dagger, Chrom knew. The moonlight from outside may have been faint, but the red of the sheath and golden V still had a luster all of their own.

"...And given what happened to her, what we found in South Town, I think her fears were warranted. I-I haven't forgotten what I said, Chrom. I'll win this war... but I still want to find answers in Valm."

"I... I think you will." Chrom fought back more of that strange chill as he said that, opting to squeeze Robin close to him, and press his lips against her forehead. A brief surge of warmth echoed through him as she murmured thanks, before shifting a little in his arms so her lips met his. And with his mouth busy kissing her, he couldn't voice a thought drifting in the back of his mind.

That he was afraid just what sort of answers she might find.


	46. By Fire

**Chapter 46: By Fire**

Robin stood on the slopes of Demon's Ingle, looking out into the narrow valley beyond. The volcano had pushed up steep, rocky foothills over the decades, almost all of them composed of raw rock, a few pines eking out a foothold between the crags.

Down in the shallow valley, her own troops were deployed. She and Chrom perched on one of the rocks of the slope, to better look over the heads of her men. They'd need to march soon.

"I think we're as ready as we'll ever be." She told the remaining troops. "Stand firm; we'll be with you every step of the way."

To prove it, she and Chrom took the first steps forward. And thankfully, the soldiers followed her down into the valley. She still had their trust and faith.

The first units she saw were the cavalry. They perched on the trails leading into the foothills. She could glimpse Frederick and Sumia on one side. Across the valley, she thought there was the faintest glint of armor and a flash of red hair. Sully and Stahl, wearing the armor of paladins at last. She hoped it would turn any blades that found them.

And then ahead of her were the mages, standing a few yards ahead of the cavalry. She saw them shifting a little, murmuring. They were exposed, and knew it. She just hoped they also knew the plan by heart. Together with the cavalry, they formed the main wings of an inverted crescent.

Finally, just ahead of them and spread out in a long line were the foot skirmishers. Just a small buffer between their mages, and the oncoming Valmese forces. Robin and Chrom walked into their midst. She saw Vaike giving them a wave, and a confident grin. His enthusiasm was contagious, and the troops at the front of her inverted crescent gave a rousing cheer.

-o-o-o-

"FAH! Look at the rabble, trying to make a desperate last stand. They're harder pressed than even I thought!" Excellus preened as he spoke. Yen'fay merely narrowed his eyes as he looked at the formation, before glancing back at his own forces.

Pheros rode beside him, her horse picking up on the unease that hung between them and pawing the ground. The rider seemed ill at ease among the Valmese; just as much as Yen'fay felt. Not helping was that there was something odd about the formation they were up against, something Yen'fay couldn't quite place at the moment.

And Excellus would give neither of them time to figure out what it was.

"This is our moment. You both can prove your loyalty, and we can wipe the resistance from the field all in one swoop."

"What about this champion of yours?" Excellus turned a very unflattering shade of red at the question.

"Are deaf, general? Or short of memory. It is as I said; he took injuries in winning our battle with Chon'sin. I've sent him to regain his strength! Worry not, we won't require him for this."

Excellus looked out over their forces, and Yen'fay followed his gaze. The cavalry and their strongest, well armored infantry waited on the wings. His own men were bunched towards the center... likely to ensure they wouldn't flee. A greedy light shone in Excellus' eyes, however.

"Yen'fay... move your men and conscripts out to the wings. I'll put the main forces in their place. Pheros, do the same."

"Excellus, are you-?" Yen'fay started, only for the strategist to cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Of course I'm sure! Their vaunted tactician made a massive error, and I don't intend for her to recover from it." His face twisted into a blood thirsty, rictus grin. "We've just enough time to rearrange our forces and smash through their lines! I'll need my best men in order to do so, and then the resistance will be routed before they know it!"

 _'And you will take the lion's share of the glory.'_ Yen'fay thought, eyes narrowing... but he still gave a curt nod and wheeled his horse. He rode out to his own lines, Excellus' plan burning in the back of his head. It may have been just as well it was Excellus' forces taking the fore; he had no wish to meet Robin as an enemy, just then-

 _'Wait.'_ He froze in the saddle as a spark of thought raced through him... and he looked out at the formation again. The flicker of suspicion blazed up in full force, and he dug his heels hard into the horse's sides. He spurred forwards to his men, with urgent thoughts and commands all of his own.

-o-o-o-

Robin watched as the Valmese bunched together, going from a spread out checker board formation to a mass of troops. An uneasy murmur spread thought the line, but all she could manage was a tight, "Yes-" that barely squeaked out of her throat. Chrom heard her though, and gave a slow nod. They'd taken the bait after all.

Behind them, the mountain gave another rumble in anticipation, the rocks shivering and bouncing underfoot. Robin gave the briefest glance back to the slope behind her, giving one last thought to those she'd placed higher up.

-o-o-o-

Volcano growls, troop noise and the constant drum of marching feet drifted up to them. In answer to the noises, the pegasi on the slopes tossed their heads as their feathers shivered. Morgan shifted from foot to foot as well. Lucina clutched the Emblem like a life line as she watched, and Morgan's fingers ghosted to where Gules should have been around his neck. A pang went through him when he remembered the gemstone was gone.

' _But they're going to need it more than I will.'_

Lucina shut her eyes, breaking focus from the forces now barreling down the slopes and towards the waiting Shepherds and resistance group waiting in the valley. Morgan forced himself to do the same, before he could dwell on how small and ragged they all looked.

 _'Remember, this is Mother's plan. It will work out.'_ Instead, he looked at their own troops. Cordelia had a spell book in her own hand, just in case. She perched in the saddle of her pegasus, thumbing nervously through the pages. Cynthia and Sumia both stirred in the saddle, mother and daughter sharing the same habit of biting their lips when nervous. Miriel held herself with more composure, while her own son Laurent had settled his face into a careful mask of concentration.

Morgan tried to do the same... as the ground rumbled again beneath their feet, and set the pegasus mounts to stamping. One or two of the wyverns tried to start towards the sky, only to be held back by their riders.

' _There's power here.'_ Morgan felt it seethe underneath the rocks, waft up with the heat of the mountain. The muggy hot air tried to seep inside his brain and hold it fast. _'Almost too much, with what we need to tap.'_

"Morgan..." Lucina put a hand on his shoulder, drawing him back to the present. Below them, a mass of dark forms closed the last of the distance, their armor giving off flecks of bright steely glint. They slammed into the front of Chrom and Robin's force with a roar and rattle of steel Morgan SWORE he could feel all the way up the mountain... but the lines didn't collapse. Instead they were forced back, step by step. Never fully breaking all the way. Morgan held his breath as he watched the front line, finally forcing himself to look away and take in the rest of the battle.

Yen'fay's forces tried to charge the troops in the hills, but it was literally an uphill battle. The cavalry and knights were hard pressed by Valmese forces, but neither had they lost any ground.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Lucina spoke up, and he knew she was watching as well.

"Mainly good for us. It would be better if the cavalry could completely drive those men from the field. But I think there's hesitation on both sides to fight their former comrades." But if they did manage to drive them away, it would mean they wouldn't need to wake what was underneath them.

Some of that hope must have showed on Morgan's face, since Lucina shook her head.

"Morgan... we have to do whatever we have to do."

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I'll be ready. I think we all will be ready." Or at least he hoped that would be the case.

And all through the fight, the volcano rumbled and stirred like a restless giant.

-o-o-o-

Robin looked up from the thick of the fighting to see hills closing in around them. Her feet scuffed against rock and gravel instead of grass, and she knew they'd been pushed to the slopes of Devil's Ingle. She shot a glance over to Chrom. He'd kept a slightly better spot amidst the skirmishing and slow push back along the line, and had been driven to a jutting rock that gave him a better vantage point.

"Our cavalry are bottle necked!" He shouted to her.

"Have they kept the passes secured?" She dashed along the line of the soldiers towards him, careful not to break up the formation too much.

"Aye. It's a foot hold, but they remain." He called down to her, still having to raise his voice above the clash even though she'd closed the distance. Robin shut her eyes for a moment, weighing her options. Their cavalry hadn't been able to drive the Valmese from the field, after all. Complete encirclement wasn't an option. But still, she could just look over the heads of their troops, and see the gaps of worn ground between the Valmese groups.

 _'So they've over extended their line. We still have that to work with-'_

A hissing sound cut into her thoughts, and she snapped her eyes open to see a sharp thin line shooting towards Chrom. Before she knew it, she'd thrown her shoulder into Chrom and knocked him prone. Her arm flashed up to guard herself, and an arrow rasped against flesh-flashed-to-scales.

' _Right. First disadvantage of a good vantage point; makes you an easy target.'_ She thought around the throbbing of her arm. The scales alternated between burning and spreading, and she had to ball her hand into a fist to keep any talons from spreading. Her other hand went to the gemstone around her neck, clasping it and letting it dampen the pain along her skin.

"...Robin?" Chrom's voice brought her all the way back. They'd both gotten scuffled from their tumble off the rock, but he was already helping her back to her feet; best to not have the troops panic with them falling down.

"I'd guess we're getting into the range of their sharp shooters." Robin kept her voice dry, and dusted herself off to get a second look. Thankfully the line hadn't collapsed from that mishap. The mages had stayed in place behind the fighter lines, their presence baiting the Valmese like a cut of raw red meat before a ravenous wolf. But that ferocity didn't daunt Say'ri, and she met the assault with sterner discipline from her place on the front lines. She looked like she could take on half an army herself, with the way she slashed and parried with her blade, and the troops easily rallied around her; standing strong, if only for the moment.

"Our own lines are getting stretched thin." Chrom hurried to remind her. "It won't be long before they break through us after all."

"I know," and she knew they needed decision. She'd hoped it wouldn't have come to this... but it was the only path they had open, now. She clutched the Gules gem close to her, feeling a warm glow in its heart as she whirled around to the rear troops. Her eyes instantly picked out Virion, still keeping his place despite the chaos and the steady retreat. She met his eyes for a heartbeat before calling out "Signal the mages!"

Virion's answer was a blazing arrow, fired into the sky with a trail of red flame.

-o-o-o-

"There's the signal!" Cynthia's cry yanked Lucina's focus up from Morgan to see the fire arrow. Morgan let his breath out slow as his eyes followed the shot.

"So it's going to be fire after all..." She heard him take another deep breath, steadying himself. Lucina turned her own focus to the last of the mages, pegasus knights, and wyverns. The air around them crackled from heat and anticipation.

"Right; Sumia, take your wing to the right, Cordelia attends to the left!" Both wings of fliers took off, diving down the steep arc of the slope. "Wyverns, ferry the clerics to the foot hills and do what you can to lift others out of the way!" The wyverns eagerly leapt to the sky, clerics hanging on with one hand while clutching their staves in the others.

"Mages... we open the gates now." In answer, the mages all turned their focus to the volcano peak. Glowing sigils sprang from their fingers, charging the air with a low but growing hum of power. The rumbling grew from the mountain, along with a hiss as something cracked through the surface. Smoke began to billow from the peak, and Lucina swore the ground was getting more and more unsteady...

But the volcano only stirred a little under the focus of the mages. And Lucina realized there was a touch of strength missing. She turned to Morgan, and found herself facing the whites of his eyes. He stared up at the smoke, frozen... save for a shaking in his hands.

"Morgan-?"

"I-" he whispered out. "I've seen... smoke like this. Something stirring in the earth. I remember-"

A pale blue glimmer settled in one of his eyes.

"No, Morgan! Don't!" A similar light headed feeling was settling into her own mind, a flicker of memory borne on black wings… but something was holding everything at bay. Lucina stared down at the Emblem strapped to her arm, and snaked her hand out to clutch Morgan's. She placed it across the gold surface, and watched him snap out of the fever trying to pull him under.

His mouth didn't move... but his focus was back. He shivered, but still raised his hand. Lucina did the same, hating that she needed to call whatever was stirring in the back of her mind. They both traced sigils, glowing script trailing their fingers. Underfoot and in her chest, something answered, trying to burn itself out of them, only to be stopped short by the Emblem.

Though the mountain had no such seal on it. The volcano roared into life, a sound so deep it left her bones vibrating. Trails of red and orange threaded their way down from the peak... moving fast as well. Below their group, a rent opened in the side of the mountain like a fresh wound in the earth, hot burning blood spilling out of it.

"Oh-" Morgan just managed.

'… _Oh indeed.'_ Now that there was an outlet in the mountain's fire, the heat died in their blood. When that faded, it left her with a sinking feeling in her chest. And the feeling they'd done their job a little too well.

-o-o-o-

The air came alive with wingbeats. Robin felt the heat at her back, and saw the Valmese edging away as they realized what was happening... but all too late to flee. Only a fragment of the forces were able to scramble up the steep slopes, escaping the wrath of the mountain. Spells desperately flared up in the midst of the Valmese cluster, mages trying to teleport where they could, but many of them still struggling to find a safer spot.

Nearby, Virion was yanked up by Cherche. Say'ri turned to her to say something, only to vanish in a shimmer of magic. Robin looked up to the hills surrounding the valley, and for a moment thought she saw Lissa's familiar yellow dress, a figure in pink robes joining her as the rescue spell did its work. All around her and Chrom, more and more soldiers were yanked out of harms way by wings or by spell work.

The wings of their cavalry retreated up into the passes, well away from the lava flow... leaving just the Valmese to face the fire streaming from the peak. Her own forces were almost absent from the path carved by the molten earth.

...Almost. A handful of them remained on the slope. And she could feel the heat fast approaching them.

' _Wait, this is too fast!'_ Her eyes stretched wide, realizing that the rescue efforts had been desperately playing catch up. A thunder of wings made Robin raise her eyes, and she saw Sumia and Cordelia both flying towards them, stretching out their hands to her and Chrom.

Instead of taking them, Robin shoved one of the remaining soldiers towards them. Chrom did the same with a shout.

"GO! Get them out of here! We can find a way out on our own!" The roar of flames cut out any response the pegasus riders could give, and they were suddenly busy with pulling the soldiers out. Another pair of soldiers had vanished thanks to spells, likely the last volley the priests could manage.

Leaving just them, facing a salvo of molten rock. Smoke closed around them, obscuring the sky and thwarting anymore rescue efforts, and the orange and red glow of the flow lit up the underbelly of the dark clouds. A second red glow lit Robin's skin, and she looked down to see Gules blazing bright.

"Right... Robin, this would probably be a good time to fly." Chrom's hands closed around hers as he spoke. A wave of orange flame leapt up over the rocks, threatening to wash over them.

Instead Robin shut her eyes, glimpsing Chrom do the same. The heat around them grew worse... and concentrated along their backs and shoulders. New muscles stretched out and beat against the smoky air, and then just like that, they left the ground behind. Robin heard screams underneath them, opening her eyes just in time to see the wave of fire slam into the first Valmese soldiers.

 _'Oh gods-'_ her throat tightened, seeing the plan heave itself into destructive motion. Robin told herself it was either her side or theirs... but she found she couldn't look at the sight of soldiers cooking in their armor any longer. Instead she angled her way through the smoke, stretching her wings out-

Smoke still filled the air, and her own vision. Beside her, Chrom wheezed for breath. Robin twisted around, desperately searching for something that could get them out of the heat.

It almost undid her; a snap of heat laced across her back and new wings, the limbs wanting to stretch out further and snake more changes over her flesh. Robin squirmed, and the feathers of her wings shuddered, the wing strokes going out of beat. She slipped from her place in the sky-

Until Chrom's hand found her, yanking her close to him as her own wings folded in. The feathers lashed at her cheeks, ruffling in the blistering air. Chrom held her tight, fighting his way through the air. His skin gave off heat, and Robin risked a glance up at his eyes. She almost wished she hadn't, as she saw the slits in them. His eyes glimmered, no _**burned**_ blue. Robin traced her hand up his arms, and felt the worst of the heat concentrated around the Brand.

Even Gules was having a difficult time, with THAT much fire around them, singing to them. She wore the gemstone, yet she could feel a haze starting to work its way into her thoughts. Any clarity she had was losing consistency, breaking apart and running away from her like hot wax-

Her fingers tightened around Gules, and her other hand brushed over Chrom's mark. He stopped pulling for height, and his eyes lost their manic shine for a moment as he looked down at her.

"Hang in there!" Robin called out. She twisted around to look down, and saw they'd angled away from the volcano just enough to be over a forest. The trees were beginning to catch alight... but it was better than fighting their way through smoke, and losing a grip on themselves one finger at a time.

"Land there!" She shouted, and Chrom folded his own wings around himself, dropping like a pale stone. Branches crackled around them, lashing at them as they fell. One drew blood and tore the feather's loose from Robin's back, prompting the wings to melt back into her for safety. Her robe managed to shield Chrom from the worst of it, until Robin's feet hit the earth. Chrom nearly pitched forwards onto her, and she had to throw her weight against him. His chest shuddered against her, throat shivering against her cheek, but he barely kept from collapsing.

"Gods... I thought we'd be alright with just the gemstones..." He even managed a few words. Robin couldn't help but notice his arms were still clutched around him, like she was a lifeline. His wings flickered a moment, before finally fading out in a haze of blue-tinged cinders.

"Well, we haven't gone mad YET. That's a start, right?" She tried. Chrom nodded, but his eyes drifted up to the trees they'd landed among. Flames were already beginning to lick up the trunks, a reminder that their reprieve on the ground wasn't going to last for long.

"But we need to move. Now." Chrom only nodded to her words and grabbed her by the hand. His grip was like a vice, but Robin knew she was hanging onto him just as tight for some measure of stability. Together they dashed off into the forest.

-o-o-o-

A knot settled in Frederick's throat once the screams began. Below him, he saw the fighting still, the soldiers turning from battle to the source of the commotion. He could see the blood drain out of their faces as they realized what they were looking at.

"Retreat up the slopes!" He shouted to his own men. "We've enough to hold the passes!"

Below him, the Valmese were running up; some of their faces were familiar ones, that his own soldiers had drilled and trained behind. Praying they'd listen, Frederick raised his voice.

"If you wish to live, throw down your weapons! We will accept your surrender!" Somehow, his voice carried above the hiss of heat and crackle of flames. And the Chon'sin soldiers heard him. Mobs of them had made their way up the trails, only to be cut off from their main forces as the fire and lava snaked through the valley.

A rain of steel followed Frederick's words, as soldiers dropped their weapons to the ground and pressed forward. Of the Chon'sin soldiers, not a single one still held a weapon.

Frederick let his breath out in relief.

Everything past that turned into a blur of ridding hard and directing his troops and prisoners up into the safe parts of the slopes. The one constant companion in the sea of changing faces was the smoke, growing more and more oily as the valley below caught alight. The wane light of mage circles couldn't compare to the haze and baleful red glow. Yet they still all did their work in the face of it. Before Frederick knew it, he'd found himself at the encampment at the top of the hill well past the tree line.

"Frederick?" A voice reached his ears, dispelling some of the haze. His horse gave a whinny, recognizing whoever spoke.

"Frederick!" The voice cried out again, and Frederick's eyes fastened on a head of blue hair among the soldiers.

' _Lucina.'_ She carried herself a great deal like Chrom, even with the black smudging her clothing; even the retreat from the slope hadn't taken the wind and will out of her. But for all that she was anxious, looking a great deal like her mother as she waited to her the results of the attack. But the way she reached up to help him from the horse was all her own.

"My lady..." Frederick dismounted, going to one knee before the princess. Lucina rested a hand on his shoulder, looking down at him through a soot streaked face. Her brother was a shadow beside her, Azure clutched in both of his hands.

"I'm relieved you escaped the mountain before the worst of it hit. You and Morgan are the last of the activation unit." Lucina's gaze softened as she heard his words, losing some of the worry haunting it.

"What are the other results?"

"The Valmese in the field are either dying or fleeing. We'll live to fight another day, and have taken a gouge out of Walhart's forces. Of the soldiers caught in the inferno, nine of ten agreed to surrender. Say'ri is among them now, keeping them in order."

"Good. Does Father know what to do with them yet?" Frederick paused, looking between Lucina and Morgan. Both of them gave him blank looks.

"I'd... hoped that you had heard from him yourself. You haven't seen him? Or mother?" The haunted look was back in her eyes, as she shook her head. She gazed around their new camp, finding nothing reassuring.

"Not since we separated for the skirmish. So where-"

"Up there!" Morgan called out, his hand stretching up to the sky. For a moment, Frederick thought there was a stray pegasus rider caught in the updraft and fighting through the smoke. The next moment, he remembered pegasi didn't have leathery, blue tinged wings like those. He bit back a curse as Chrom labored up and up through the sky, clutching Robin tight to him, both blinded by the smoke and whatever the flames were doing to their minds…

And then just like that, Chrom dove out of the sky, into a solitary patch of forest that hadn't been marred by the flames yet.

"Frederick... you're in charge while I'm gone." Lucina filled the silence.

"But milady-"

"I'm not going to stand idly by when they're stuck in the fire! I have the Emblem... I can help." Her fingers tightened into fists as she spoke.

"You're not going alone." Morgan told her, dropping Azure to hang around his neck.

And before Frederick could raise any more objections or tell them to at least wait for a search party, they'd dashed off into the trees.

They truly were their parent's children... for good or for ill.


	47. By Sword

**Chapter 47: By Sword**

Around them the flames surged their way up trees, leaping between trunks and threatening to trap them in a circle. Sweat trickled down Robin's neck and between her shoulder blades as the heat bit at her skin and lashed her across the face. And all the while it felt like a gallon of adrenaline was pumped into her blood, which was ALSO trying to burn its way free from her flesh.

She was beginning to understand this may have just SLIGHTLY been a bad idea. At least for her and Chrom.

 _'You wouldn't have to stay down here and endure this-'_ She stamped out the thought before it could continue, and before her eyes could drift to the sky. They'd already played with that particular fire once, and were lucky to have only gotten some bruises out of it.

From how Chrom staggered through the flames, the same fire fever was getting a claw hold in his brain as well. Robin's hand clasped at his wrist as he strained his head towards the sky; his cloak was half crisped away, and she could see how the muscles in his back were trying to coil up and stretch out. He almost stumbling for a second when he felt her fingers squeeze at his skin. And when he looked over to her, his pupils still held a slitted shape.

"I'm alright-" he choked out. Robin's hand slipped on the sheet of sweat over his skin. "But we need to find a way out."

Robin wiped her own drenched bangs out of her face as she murmured an agreement. When her fingers got clear of her face, she found herself staring at a path. A faint path, half choked by flames...

 _'But I can fix that at least.'_ Her spell book snapped open at the thought, and Robin let the breezes ruffle and turn from the hot air. The temperature spiked that little bit more as a bolt of lightning leaped free of her fingers, blasting its way through the trees. The wood exploded into more flames from the contact, but was also thrown free, clearing their way a little bit more.

"That did it! Come on!" Robin grabbed Chrom by the hand and pulled him forward. It was easier to run than she wanted to admit it; her heart wanted to do MUCH more, and not limit herself to just the ground. Robin clenched her teeth and just focused on running faster-

"Look out!" Chrom planted his feet and like a strange game of crack the whip, Robin got yanked back when she would have run forward.

The flames lashed in from either side, a hairsbreadth from her face. They burned so hot it left her brain a smoldering blank; it would have done far worse to her skin, if she hand't been pulled back just in time.

"...You are both an accursed nuisance. It seems you can't even burn properly." A voice snaked into Robin's ears, as the flames swirled around them before dispelling. There was a strange, acrid scent to the smoke now. Her eyes watered, forcing her to blink. When her vision cleared, someone was standing in their path.

His robes, formerly ornate, were now singed. He glared down at them, with his broad face twisted up into a sneer.

"The famed strategist and her keeper. You just cost me a victory and all too much standing for Walhart."

"Robin, have a care... that's Walhart's tactician." Chrom gave a warning, as his hand left hers and rested on Falchion.

"Ex..." She struggled for a name, trying to grasp it through the haze taking root in her brain. This was NOT the place for a battle, with how her focus was slipping.

"EXCELLUS, you wretch." He cut her off, taking a step forward. A spell book was in his hand, ornately set with gold leaf over a red leather cover. Why did that look so familiar to her? Robin shook her head, trying to clear it; her thoughts were darting all over her brain like a startled bird trying to fight its way into the sky.

She dug her feet into the ground, standing her ground as Excellus advanced.

"Keep behind me, Chrom." She managed. She had just a little more advantage than he did at the moment, the spell book still in her hands. A wild plan settled into her brain; but she needed wild just then, if she was going to have any hope of winning the battle quickly.

The forest blazed all the brighter around them, one of the trees splitting in half and sending burning branches showering down with a crackle. As the embers fell around and onto them like a sharp, biting rain, Excellus lifted his hand. The flecks of fire raced towards him and sparked into a circuit of lines around him, spelling out spell words. Robin tensed, waiting for the attack-

The ground under her shifted; her only warning before it exploded. Behind her she heard Chrom scrambling back away from an explosive burst of flames. The spell scalded her back, driving Robin forward. Excellus was already trying to prepare another spell, eyes on the book in her hands.

 _'Too bad I'm not going to use a spell. But it worked well for a bluff.'_ She thought, letting the book drop from her hands and dangle by its straps. It bounced against her side as Robin's hands went to the last blade she had. The dagger lashed out in a wicked curved arc. She aimed for Excellus throat, but instead of finding flesh the blade bounced off of something hard and metallic. She caught a glimpse of a gold band under his collar, and cursed as she sprung back and rolled away. The dagger fell from her fingers, gone numb from the impact.

A second later, a chunk of tree fell between them, blazing bright and blocking the chance for another fast, physical rush.

"So much for a quick fight." Robin growled out as she came to a stop against Chrom. She readied her own hands for a counter spell, hoping she could chase the pins and needles out of her fingers in time.

The spell didn't come as she expected. Instead, Excellus was glancing at the ground where the dagger fell. He stooped down for a moment, picking it up and examining it as he held it in his fingers. The red leather of the hilt looked richer than usual, thanks to the flames around them, and the gold glittered just as brightly as the bindings on his spell book. There was something flickering across his face that Robin didn't like.

"Ah, how considerate of you to bring this back to me. Though you needn't have bothered. I DO have dozens like it, after all."

The flames around her dimmed, the world going strangely dark as the words echoed around her head. All at once, what he said clicked into place with a horrible wrenching sensation.

"You... you killed her." She rasped out.

"Who? I order plenty of assassinations for the sake of the empire-"

"MAELA!" Robin's voice shrieked out. Behind her she felt Chrom flinch, and her blood began to throb in her ears. She tasted iron in the back of her throat, as a metallic ringing pounded in her head.

"...Ahhh, yes. Her. The Plegian traitor. Though no, I didn't directly kill her; just put blade and gold in the hands of those who COULD carry out the deed, as per the request."

"WHO!? Who told you to do that!?" Her voice was turned into a raw scream, and her throat stung from the smoky air. Her eyes were stinging as well, as heat rushed into her face.

"That would be telling, little tactician. And I *DO* value the secrets and privacy of my patrons. Particularly when they whisper such sweet and pretty promises to me... though I see this has all touched a nerve on you. A particularly raw one at that!" His voice squeaked in amusement. Robin wanted to tear his throat out with her bare hands if she had to- but instead she collapsed to her knees.

-o-o-o-

Choking smoke did its best to turn them away from their search. Morgan's answer was to duck his head a little lower, and stick close to Lucina. She still held onto the Emblem, and it still extended its protection to her. She took the lead in their search, her steps sure… though he could see the white knuckled grip her free hand had on the Emblem. Not that Morgan was all that exempt from needing the Emblem. He had a hand resting on Lucina's arm, the edge of the Emblem bumping his fingers with each step. Each brush of contact sharpened his thoughts for a breath.

And with each touch, he swore the heat of the flames was dimmed, just a little. And his senses went from muggy to sharp.

Which cleared his ears just enough. A high pitched cry that was almost like wind shivering the bark of the trees.

"I heard something!" He whispered out, motioning for Lucina to pause, to still the sound of her footsteps.

There it was again, faint through the crackling flames and just audible. Morgan froze for a moment as he picked out Robin's voice; he'd never heard her sound like THAT before. Lucina had gone rigid as well... but only for a moment. Then her body tightened like a spring, before lunging forward. Her feet kicked up ash, marking her trail as she darted down straight into the blaze.

Morgan followed close behind.

-o-o-o-

Chrom stood rooted to the spot, not believing what his ears heard. Robin shook too much to find her feet, and Excellus gave a tittering laugh over the state he'd reduced her to. His sword arm still ached, but Chrom found himself drawing Falchion as Excellus moved closer, pausing at the fallen tree. He had a hand outstretched, and was already gathering power for another spell.

"Ah, speaking of patrons... I'll be taking the Emblem from you as well, please. Another deal struck, and to fulfill."

"You'll have to look elsewhere, then. Robin took the precaution of sending it well away from your grasp." His own voice was curt as he growled the words out... but for an instant Excellus lost that amused grin on his face.

"Then I clearly must look elsewhere, once I finish burning you. Don't worry, I'm sure I can find a spell harsh enough to reduce even YOU to charred bones." He was already drawing a purple tinted tome from his robes, which Chrom didn't like the looks of. "I wonder, is it one of your time thrown brats carrying the Emblem? I'll enjoy taking it from them-"

A wordless howl cut him off, followed by a shadow of movement blurred between Excellus and Chrom. A second later a long rent opened up along Excellus' face, and he a scream peeled out between his lips. He clutched at his bloody face, staggering back. Between Chrom and Excellus, something perched on the burning tree, ignoring the heat from the flames. Chrom caught a familiar flash of hair drifting from the heat, and the updraft from the flames made a gold lined cloak billow out. Robin didn't move from where she crouched, or moved her hand from where it hung out from her side. The sleeve was thrown back to her elbow, showing off the purple scales now coating her arm. Red dripped off the claws her fingers had morphed into, hissing as it fell into the tongues of flame.

"My... my face..." Excellus gasped out. His eyes had shrunk to pinpricks, and his feet couldn't carry him away fast enough. Any thoughts of losing spells on them had been chased from his mind, as Robin lifted her head and leveled a look on him. From how his face went pale, Chrom could easily guess it was a murderous one. Her other hand was growing scales as well, the fingers blackening and hardening into cruel hooks that dug into the bark of the wood.

" **You** -" her word was more a growl than anything else. And Chrom swore that it wasn't just the fire making her glow. A thin ribbon of purple outlined her form, pulsing and drawing in strength from the flames, gradually growing brighter and brighter.

"This isn't over, you half blooded witch. I'll kill you myself for what you did to my face." The flames began to wrap around Excellus as he spoke, attempting to provide a cover for his escape route. His free hand wove a dark spell around it-

Robin ignored it with how she tensed, preparing to lunge forward. Chrom stared between her and Excellus' spell, seeing how the dark magic crackled and withered the remaining plant life.

"ROBIN, NO!" He found his balance and clapped his hands around her shoulders as Robin tried to rush Excellus.

"Let go, let me go let me go LET ME GO HE KILLED HER-"

Her words ran together, turning desperate. Robin either didn't notice Excellus readying the spell, or didn't care. She strained against Chrom as Excellus retreated, the flames swallowing and obscuring the man. Her body shook from rage as he vanished from sight.

"I'll kill him, LET ME GO DAMN YOU!" Likewise, Chrom was shaking as he wrapped his grip closer and hauled her away from Excellus' spells.

"You'll die too! Robin, please-" The fire surged, obscuring their vision. Excellus vanished from view, spitting out one last curse at them.

Robin threw back her head and let a wordless howl escape from her throat, choked with rage and pain. It sent a stab through Chrom's heart, equal parts sorrow... and terror. He'd heard a cry like that once before, from his own throat.

The purple glow on Robin burst into flames, and he flinched away from her as Robin fell forward, back onto her hands and knees. The fire swept over her, and one of her eyes rolled in a frenzy, turning her glare to him. Her eyes had gone completely to slits, and blazed with a red light that stained her irises crimson. Her teeth showed in a snarl before the flames washed over her completely.

A pair of wings shot out from the heart of the violet inferno, glowing so bright that it put the forest fire around them to shame. An inhuman screech echoed out from the fire's center, and a baleful pair of red eyes glared out at him. The wings beat once, snuffing the flames out as a dragon uncoiled from them.

Her scales were a purple so dark it was almost black. They were veined with red, more pronounced on the leather of the wings, which shifted to feather like ends. Several sets of horns crowned the dragon's head, and it showed a vicious set of fangs as it opened its jaws. The eyes were lost to a red glow, completely clouded by hate.

The monstrous head swung around, lips rippling up to show teeth as it searched for Excellus. Chrom thought he saw a ripple of robes and fabric, and a glow of spell sigils as her readied a teleport spell. The beast Robin had turned into shrieked, charging Excellus. But the Valmese tactician's robes were already fading at the edges, the teleportation spell taking hold. But he had just enough time to ignite a parting gift of black magic.

The Valmese tactician called up his trapped spell from the ground, and the black magic erupted into a blaze of black and violet power that stripped bark from the few standing trees, leaving them withered husks. It kept whirling between them and Excellus, a vortex that threatened to maul anything that came too close.

It would have shredded human flesh, but merely bounced and sparked off the dragon scales. The dragon's head lashed out, snapping in fury… but closed on empty air. The head angrily thrashed back and forth, the extended neck getting slashed with the dissipating spell. The magic finally drew threads of blood, biting her flesh and making her eyes blaze in fury.

And all of it was focused on him, now that there was nothing else left.

Chrom barely rolled to the side as the head lashed out to try and close its teeth around him.

"Robin? Robin!" He shouted her name, for all the good it did. His only answer was a berserk roar. When the claws flashed out to skewer him, Chrom had to draw Falchion to parry them. They clashed together, and he almost lost his balanced completely from the force of the blow.

But he couldn't bring the blade up against her, couldn't bear to strike back, and he uselessly tried to call out to her again.

"ROBIN!"

-o-o-o-

"That's Father-" Lucina lifted her head, trying to find a way through the smoke. She dearly wished Morgan had Gules, now; maybe then she wouldn't be feeling a headache building in her temples. "I swore I heard him just now."

"I thought I heard his voice, too..." Morgan trailed off, trying to look through the sheets of flame, as though that would help-

Then they heard SOMETHING tear through the forest and bury itself into their ears. A vicious, blood curdling howl that morphed into a roar. Morgan clapped his hands over his, Lucina ducked her head in a wince. She almost dropped the Emblem thanks to the muscle spasm that ripped through her hand, only the shield straps keeping it in place. Morgan almost lost his balance and bumped against her side with a shudder.

But through that, or maybe because of it... she felt _something_ stir inside of her.

 _'There.'_ A simple word, followed by a tugging sensation that yanked her head up to look. Morgan raised his head as well... and she swore that under their combined gaze, the fire parted for a moment. Or perhaps it was just the wind.

Either way, through the flames she saw it for just an instant. The remains of a familiar white cloak, tattered as it was. It still stirred in the charred air, snapping back and forth as the person it was attached to dodged. The glare of the fire made it look almost as if he was fighting a mass of shadow.

"Father!" Morgan just managed to rasp out. The word prompted Lucina to move, the white cloak like a flag, waving her over. Lucina gathered her breath and charged as best as she could, awkwardly barreling through the gap in the flames. Tiny tongues of red tried to latch onto her cape, singing the edges. Morgan fared no better, his robe charred in places.

The half mad roar continued to tear through the air, and the more she listened to it the more Lucina felt... distant from everything. Like something else was pushing her out of her own body, into the back of her brain and putting her on auto-pilot. Even the fire didn't tear at her very much, compared to that sound.

She stumbled into the clearing more than anything else, Morgan doing the same. The area was scoured, shredded by flames what had to have been magic. Red and orange light drenched the area-

Save for the massive, almost shadow-scaled dragon that loomed over them. The flames seemed to fade, compared to the monster that took up the clearing; the wings beat once, and almost knocked Lucina to the ground, alternately fanning and smothering the fires. Its violet scales almost seemed to drink the light. A pair of crimson eyes locked on them for a moment, and Lucina felt a sudden pang of confusion there weren't more eyes-

 _'No no no noNO!'_ She screamed as the memory tried to surface. She flinched back from the red gaze, and she heard Morgan give a pained noise, doing the same. Something turned her foot; a loose rock or an exposed root, or just loose gravel. Either way it sent her crashing to the side. She caught Morgan across the side, and gravity conspired to yank them both to the ground.

But even through the pain, Morgan stayed staring up at the dragon. And Lucina couldn't pull her eyes from it for long, either. Nor get her limbs to move.

Chrom turned when she and Morgan hit the ground with a pained gasp. She realized just then her father was standing between them and the dragon. Alternating between trying to fight it, and shielding them. The monstrous head gave a baleful hiss, and Chrom brought his sword up with a pained look in his eyes.

"Robin, STOP-!"

 _'Robin?'_ Lucina stared up at the creature.

"That's... mother?" Morgan pushed the words out in a strained whisper. The dragon sprung at them, flames building up in its mouth-

The fire cut out as Chrom struck out with the blade, half by reflex. The point of Falchion cut the scales and drove into the dragon's chest. Chrom's eyes went wide when he saw what he'd done, and he gave an anguished yell before wrenching hard to the side... turning his blow just in time.

Falchion cut a deep path along the scales, but didn't fatally pierce through them. Lucina felt her breath rush back out of her lungs as she watched. She didn't even know she'd been holding it. The dragon thrashed to the side in pain, its scales and muscles locking around the blade and pushing it into a hard angle. A clawed hand smashed down on the hilt, as the rest of the dragon twisted and forced the blade into an impossible angle.

Falchion gave a strange, shrill ringing noise as the steel was strained... and then broke apart like ice under too much pressure.

Lucina stared as the fragments fell to the ground. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth, the other clasping at her chest like SHE'D been the one struck. She felt the weight of the Emblem on her arm, and something in it, some glimmer caught the dragon's eye. The red gaze lingered on the treasure for a moment, blood welling in the gash along the creature's side.

And yet it was Lucina and Morgan that the eyes lingered on the most.

"Mother-" the word slipped out of Lucina's mouth, but something about it seemed to click into place in the creature's eyes. The fury died in those red eyes, the lids sliding shut as the dragon dipped its head.

The dragon pitched forward with a strange groan that slowly morphed into something more human. A woman's voice, giving a strange, broken and pained sob. When Lucina looked again, Robin had taken the dragon's place. One of her hands was near the shards of Falchion, and she gazed down at the shattered blade with a horrified look.

"What... what did I-?" she rasped out, before her hand drew away and went to a new tear along her collarbone. Blood ran from the gash in threads and ribbons, staining her skin. But Robin barely seemed to feel the cut, instead staring at her family. She forced her hand up, a pained look of concentration twisting across her face.

The air hummed with all the residual magic washing the area, gathering along Robin's arm. She sent out a spell bolt from her hand, clear into the sky to act as a signal. The flare took the last of Robin's strength with it, as she collapsed forward, Chrom just managing to catch her, though his arms shook from the effort. The Emblem dropped from Lucina's hands, the impact of it on the dirt curiously muted. Instead of focusing on the treasure gathering dust, Lucina took Chrom's shoulder to help hold him up, Morgan the other; but any words and questions were chased from their minds, their focus as shattered as Falchion.

The rescue party found them like that; huddled together in the scorched clearing, the artifacts of kings scattered around them. And all of them either pushed to their breaking point, or already broken.

* * *

 **(A/N: This seems as good a spot as any to pause for National Novel Writing Month. I promise I didn't intend to leave on such a cliff hanger, but that's the way things fall sometimes. I just wanted to note that as we head into November that there will be a delay in the next chapters, but they'll be posted eventually. As always thank you for reading!)**


	48. Broken Things

**Chapter 48: Broken Things**

Chrom was sleep walking through the camp, with how much passed by him in a vague blur. Only Frederick's words and Lissa's presence kept him half anchored as he drifted among the tents and took stock of their situation… which thankfully was far calmer than it had been a few days prior. The only flames casting smoke now were cooking fires, and the rattle of weaponry was limited to practice blades.

"The prisoners are well fed enough; we've managed to camp in territory with good foraging. What's more, we've found our way into the realms of a dynast who... while not quite ready to ally with us, doesn't feel a driving need to report our actions to Walhart. And the conqueror himself needs to recover from Devil's Ingle."

"Indeed..." Chrom's words eased themselves out.

"That said milord... this is a reprieve we must take advantage of. It will not last forever, so we must seize the moment while we can."

"Does... Robin have any suggestions on how to do that?"

"I'm afraid not." Frederick dropped his gaze, glancing away. "She's yet to come out of her sleep. We've only had a moment or two of clarity from her."

"Mostly she just seems exhausted; and confused whenever she wakes up. It looks like you all went through the wringer in there." Lissa clarified. As they continued to make their rounds through the camp, Falchion's empty scabbard bumped against his side. Frederick must have noticed how his fingers drifted over where the weapon should have been.

"The shards are in safe keeping, milord. I gathered every last one of them when I found you." Chrom nodded to that. Now he had a notion of what Lucina must have felt, when her blade was taken from her.

"We must see about outfitting you with a rapier in the meantime. I won't have you march into battle unarmed." Chrom's fingers twitched in answer, and he felt his Brand twitch for a moment.

"I'm hardly unarmed, Frederick-"

"Oh no. NO. You do not plunge into battle with THAT muck recklessness, Chrom!" Lissa cut him off. "Besides, what's wrong with using a rapier?"

"For one thing, I will likely break it... but fine. I can at least carry it with me, if nothing else." That was the best promise he could make at the moment. Lissa sighed at that, but still let the argument drop as she lead him back to the shelter of the tents.

-o-o-o-

Lucina pushed her food back and forth on her plate. Her appetite had deserted her again, with anything she tried to eat tasting like ash on her tongue. Others fluttered around the mess hall tent, but they were like phantoms to her.

At least until one of them sat down with a heavy thud beside her.

"So, you gonna eat that?" Morgan's voice cut through her melancholy, enough for her to lift her head. "Just asking; it looks tasty enough, and I'm not really seeing what the advantage is of you working yourself into a wraith."

Lucina fought back a growl at Morgan's cheery tone. He was giving her a small smile, and scooting closer to her spot.

"I'm not in the mood for talking right now. Or eating."

"Even though both of those things would probably help you?" Morgan pressed… and the light mood dropped out of his voice, switching to serious. "C'mon, Lucina; how about talking it out?"

Past him, some of the others were gathering around the table. Owain sat across from her, as did Cynthia. And she didn't miss the concern in their faces… and the stubborn set to Morgan's mouth; he wasn't going anywhere until she talked.

' _And if I tried to leave, he'd probably convince someone to sit on me until I talked, or do so himself.'_

Lucina forced herself to take a deep breath, sighed it out through her nose. And forced herself to talk.

"Morgan, we went from having two sacred blades to none at all. That makes for pretty dire news." Lucina didn't look him in the eye as she spoke. She didn't look at any of the friends gathering around her, not wanting to meet their eyes. "And... that loss is because of me. BOTH of them are; I think if I'd been stronger, more alert I wouldn't have lost the first blade. And if I hadn't shown up to distract Father then maybe…"

The image of a black dragon filled her mind again, and she fought down a wave of raw terror trying to flood her head. That dragon wasn't the same thing she'd fought before; she had to keep telling herself that it was her _mother_ , not something else.

"I wonder if Father would have had better luck if he didn't have to defend us from our own stupid mistakes-" She stared down at her hands, watching them ball into fists.

"Um, Luci?" She yanked her head up at the nickname, half wanting to snap at Morgan this wasn't the time for it. She bit her lip at the weird half smile he was back to wearing... like he knew the obvious punchline to a joke that she DIDN'T.

"You're beating yourself up again and missing out on the key moves going on here. You're even forgetting what you said earlier... and I thought I was the one suffering from memory loss."

"What?"

"You said it yourself; they needed the Emblem, and our help. We brought it to them, and that's what helped Mother change back. Otherwise..." he dropped his eyes from hers, and she saw a shimmering obscure the mark of Naga in his eye. That was when she noticed how forced his smile really was.

 _'He's putting on a brave act. But he's been just as scared.'_

"Think of it this way, Luci. Would you rather have Falchion, or-?"

"My parents!" She bolted up, slamming her hands against the table. "How could I choose otherwise? I want my FATHER, not a memento of him! And-"

"...And I was really, really scared we were going to lose BOTH of them. So I don't know why you're agonizing over what was the right call." Morgan finished.

"You don't NEED a sacred blade, Lucina." Owain followed up. "You've got the blood of kings and dragons with you... and you've got a slight touch more control than I do."

He rolled his shoulders in a shrug, when Lucina looked at him.

"A lot of the camp knows about it, after everything that happened. Doesn't really change the fact that you saved all our necks in the past… future. And gave us another shot to make things right."

Owain gave her a quick grin when he saw her staring.

"Yeah! Champions of justice and all that! We're not about to give up after a minor set back; that's not what heroes do, when they're in a dark moment." Cynthia added, and Lucina found herself somehow smiling.

"Thanks, Morgan. And all of you. I... I guess I needed to hear that." She dipped her head at that, feeling a little embarrassed from the care being given to her. "And… I promise I'll get back on my feet, soon enough."

"AFTER you get some nourishment, right?" Owain needled her, and Lucina snorted. But also nodded. That seemed to satisfy most of her friends, as they focused on their own meals.

Lucina stared down at her plate, and took a few mouthfuls-

Only to pause as a blue glimmer caught her eye. The jewel around her neck shimmered, drawing her focus. She looked back at Azure. The blue gem caught her reflection. For a moment, she almost looked and felt like Marth again; someone strong, someone unbreakable-

 _'But is that true?'_ The thought brought a memory along with it, and Lucina shot to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Morgan dashed after her as he spoke.

"To the tents. I just remembered something important... and I think Father and Mother both need to hear it."

-o-o-o-

Finally Chrom had a moment to himself... and he found his feet taking him to the supply tent.

 _'Frederick said the shards were stored there.'_ Though he wasn't certain what looking at them would do... apart from reminding him that he was probably the first Exalt to break a sacred heirloom like that.

 _'It was that, or Robin. And how could I choose differently, with a choice like that?'_ He tried to tell himself, though his heart remained heavy. Chrom pushed the tent canvas back to look inside, expecting to find a stark reminder of what he'd done.

The table was there, a long velvet cloth draped across it. Shimmering like glass, the shards of Falchion were all laid across the table, just like Frederick had said. But there was one extra addition. A tactician's cloak obscured some of the pieces, and the table was holding extra scrolls and books. Robin ran a finger over the pages of one, murmuring the words out in a dazed, sleepy voice.

"...Robin." Her name slipped out of his mouth, prompting Robin to look up at him. Her eyes were unfocused, the fever still clinging to her along with the remnants of sleep. Chrom moved towards her... only for her to turn from him and bend her head back over her work. "What are you-"

"I have to fix this." Were Robin's first words. "It's my fault... and I'll make it right. I have to."

She was still so tired that she barely even flinched when Chrom put his hands on her shoulders. All she managed was a tired twitch. He caught a glimpse of her books; all of them filled with her hand writing, recounting stories he'd told her, and theories she had.

"It's my fault." She murmured again. Her skin was hot to the touch, and Chrom pulled at her shoulders, trying to break her concentration.

"You can't make it right like this," he started to say, earning a wince from Robin. "Not by working yourself to an early grave." He hastened to add. "Please, Robin… listen to me. And look at me, too."

Maybe she heard an echo of her own words, so many years ago; it got her eyes to look up at him. And finally she focused on him. "Chrom…"

There was a 'I'm so sorry' lurking on the end of that. He stalled it, by yanking her into his arms. He still heard it sobbed into his shoulder, repeated as she shuddered.

"I wish I'd done something, _anything_ different, but I lost myself. And you… my entire family almost paid the price. And then I shattered Falchion-"

"Don't take all of the blame." Chrom murmured. "I had to turn a blow that would've killed you." He felt the bandages brush against his shoulder, where they were wrapped around her chest.

"Robin, we'll find a way through this. You won a battle for us."

"And I lost a blade." She wouldn't look him in the face, but allowed him to hold her close.

"Love... I'd give up Falchion, the Emblem... all of it, before losing you. I wouldn't have done anything differently. In the end… it's just a sword. An important one, but it's only an object."

And he'd already lost one part of his family to protecting artifacts from the past. Prioritizing _things_ over actual people. He'd be dammed if he'd be forced to do that again. Chrom started to say that… but froze when a beam of light crossed the tent from an open flap.

"I... forgive me for interrupting you." Lucina was outlined in the opening of the tent, Morgan shadowing her. Chrom was sure he could see a few more of the children behind them. "But I recalled something; something that makes this battle seem far less hopeless."

Robin lifted her head up at that, pulling away from Chrom's embrace. His hands drifted away from her shoulders, though one found Robin's fingers. They twined their hands together, both blinking over Lucina's sudden appearance.

Robin found her voice first. It was still rough, but she was able to string words together.

"I… I'd take anything you know, that gives us a chance to fix things."

"It's from an old story; that Falchion and the Emblem were both broken before." Lucina said, ducking her head. For all her words about hope, she still looked a touch guilty over what happened. But her words sparked something in Chrom's memory.

"I... I remember that now." Chrom whispered out. "They were reforged, in the tales."

"So we might have a way. I don't know HOW they were reforged... but I know it's possible."

-o-o-o-

It was possible to fix everything. Robin knew that much, and clung onto that one idea. She just had to find some way to that solution. It kept some of her own guilt at bay… and it seemed to do the same for her daughter.

She'd seen the way Lucina's shoulders slumped. And she wanted to do something to ease that burden she carried. But her own throat kept choking up when she tried, and Robin could only nod to their daughter when she at last wished them goodnight.

And let Chrom lead her to their own tent. When her husband closed the flap, she wanted to focus only on him. But the burdens from outside had a way of working in to their private quarters, clear in how Chrom had his head lowered, turning to face her.

"We… aren't exactly out of the woods yet." Chrom started. "There's still the matter of the prisoners we took. And how much confidence we can inspire in our allies, considering some of the blows we've taken."

They still didn't have a stable base to operate out of, Robin knew. They could last here perhaps another week, before foraging became too scarce. Or before they risked being outmaneuvered by whatever new forces Walhart called up and pointed at them.

She voiced some of that to Chrom, prompting a nod from him as he walked towards her.

"I'll need you by my side tomorrow, when I speak to our troops." He confessed to Robin. And she realized that she wasn't the only one feeling off balance. He tried to hide it, but his hand kept floating to a blade that wasn't there. And she knew that he dreaded to prospect of another speech.

She had to be a part of his strength, since she'd taken some of it away.

"I... I'll be there." She promised him. He must have heard the unsaid 'but' at the end of those words, as he lifted his head up. Robin's fingers bit at her palms, and she hated that she needed to burden him with more of her problems.

But the way he was watching her showed he wouldn't just shrug it off, now that he'd heard that flicker of hesitation.

"Go on," he urged, bridging the gap between them and sitting down next to her. He took her hands up in his, squeezing them to coax her words out.

"But... Chrom, I still feel anger in me." And though he held her hands now, her own mark had burned on and off, all through the day. Raging and clamoring to be let loose again. Even now, she felt something burning in her blood, stirring at the memories. Excellus' mocking tone scrapped at her thoughts, and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

"And I'm... I'm terrified. I'm terrified it'll wash over me again when I see Excellus. Or if I think too much about my mother. And I might lose myself-"

"...Like I did, once?" His words stilled her.

"Love, I lost control as well. And you pulled me back from it. You saved me." He punctuated that by squeezing her close. "Now I'll gladly be your strength and return the favor."

Robin found herself curling her hands into his shoulders, holding tight onto him. Any lingering rage died from his contact.

The rest of the evening they held each other, Robin clinging to Chrom as her anchor.

-o-o-o-

Morning came courtesy of a slant of sunlight hitting Chrom in the eyes. He opened them with a groan, while Robin burrowed deeper under the covers.

"Father…?" Lucina's voice chased any drowsiness out of Chrom's head, and stopped short his irritation from getting woken early. "I apologize again… I seem to be in the habit of interrupting you,"

"But usually for important things." Chrom pointed out, and Lucina nodded. Both of them kept their voices hushed. "Just give me a moment to get ready, and I'll meet you outside."

Robin didn't stir, exhaustion keeping her eyes shut. Chrom also didn't make any move to rouse her; after everything, she needed a moment of respite. And depending on what Lucina had to tell him, he might very well find himself crawling back into bed.

' _First, figure out what she has to say.'_

Which wasn't much at first. Instead she pointed out a direction, and led him through the gray stillness of the camp. Chrom followed, and found himself back to a particular supply tent. Back to the fragments of Falchion. She motioned for him to lift the flap and look inside. Once again, someone stood over them... but this time it was a figure in red.

"Tiki?" The name fell out of Chrom's mouth. She blinked up from the fragments, turning her eyes to him.

"I grieve for the loss of Marth's blade." Tiki began, and Chrom fought down a wince. "Yet... I understand why. When facing the loss of a blade and the loss of your heart, the choice is clear. It's something I think he'd agree with, as well."

"But... Chrom and I both remembered something." Lucina motioned to the chairs, and the three of them sat. "This hasn't been the first time Falchion broke."

She gave Tiki a careful look, hoping the manakete would pick up what she was implying. Chrom simply settled for holding his breath and curling his fists in his lap.

"Do you know how-?" He just managed, his voice tight.

"Indeed, I do. Even a heroic blade may lose its edge. But that is not a reason to give up. Even broken things can be rebuilt." Finally, the air of the tent lost its melancholy feel. Chrom lifted his head.

"The secrets to Falchion's reforging have been lost." Tiki admitted. "...But not forever. There are ways to peel back the veil of time, and rediscover it."

"A spell?" Lucina ventured. "Naga sent me through time before; she probably has other means to send people back to find out the truth."

"Yes... though this involves less physical travel, and more of looking back through time. Scrying. But I should warn you now that such a spell does not come easily. I cannot cast it here." Lucina's expression shifted to downcast for a moment.

"No... I'd guess not." Chrom filled in, determined not to lose the one lead they had. "So then, where?"

"Somewhere of spiritual significance. Somewhere there is power." Chrom's mind instantly latched onto one location.

"...The Mila Tree."

"Walhart's forces hold it," Lucina pointed out. "They were quick to move in where we faltered... it'll be a task to retake it."

"Yes... but one I hope I am equal to." They all turned to Robin's voice. She stood outlined in the tent entrance, no longer looking quite so battered. Her voice had lost that fragile edge, and finally she held her head up as she looked at them.

"As I said... I have to fix this. And now I will." She looked to each of them, making that promise. "And I think I have a notion on how to start; Chrom, I'd recommend resting up for this evening for starters; we'll unfold this idea I have from there."

-o-o-o-

That evening, Chrom stood in front of the prisoners. Torches were lit around them and cast shadows over their faces, hiding some but not all of the fear and exhaustion in them. Their wounds had been bandaged, though many still carried tears in their clothing. The former brilliant colors of Chon'sin looked muted from the ash and dust on the hems. While some looked up at him as he moved before them, many more were slumped over. Perhaps waiting for the sword to fall on them. Frederick walked at his side, Robin on the other. Say'ri already stood in front of the prisoners, waiting for him.

"Ylisseans," she spoke to them, but loud enough for everyone in camp to hear. "We await your judgement now."

Chrom simply nodded to her, before turning to the assembled fighters.

"Your generals are dead or fled." Chrom told them. He watched a crowd wide wince move through them. He tried not to have the same flinch show up in him; this sounded uncomfortably close to gloating, and so he rushed to the next part.

"And Devil's Ingle was not the decisive battle. I will continue to fight Walhart every step of the way, until his influence is banished completely... but I also will not fight LIKE him."

' _Or like Duran. I'm not like either of them.'_

"We... are not to be put to death?" Came a cautious voice from the front.

"No. I'm not a warlord. And I'm not a conqueror either." That brought their eyes up, and he was well aware of how all of them were studying him. Chrom forced himself to stand tall, and put conviction into his words.

"If you wish, you can return home. No one will stop you, if that is what is desired. Or..." Chrom's hand found the hilt of the new sword. He drew the rapier smoothly, raising it to the sky. Say'ri echoed the motion, drawing one of her blades. THAT drew the eyes of everyone, and he raised his voice. "Or, you can FIGHT for your homes! I give you this choice; I leave it for you to decide."

A hush greeted his words. Chrom slowly lowered the blade, and prepared to turn back. It wasn't something that he could expect to happen quickly, after all.

"...Exalt." A voice said. Then louder. Others called Say'ri's name, and she moved to stand beside him. The chant began to grow through the ranks of the prisoners-

Not prisoners any longer, Chrom knew. They were soldiers again. And ready to fight for his cause. Not all of them shouted; some of them drifted away, too shredded from the conflict. And as per what he and Robin agreed on, they were allowed to leave.

But those who remained were moving forward, and Chrom motioned for Say'ri to greet them; she was essentially their leader now, the one they knew.

"Now to lead them to victory." He murmured to Robin. She reached out and brushed her fingers against his sword hand. And a promise glimmered in her eyes all the while; she'd get him there as well.


	49. Branching

**Chapter 49: Branching**

Robin hung on night-dark wings, flying high enough that her breath came out fogged. What little air she could breath burned cold in her lungs. But she kept her height, knowing that anyone who managed to glance up wouldn't realize what they were seeing.

This would have been exhilarating, if her heart wasn't trying to beat its way out of her chest, and her throat wasn't trying to tie itself into knots. Her stomach was debating joining in as well by vomiting up everything she'd ever eaten. Robin just managed to stubbornly reign in the last part. She didn't need ANYONE looking up, thanks to an anxiety ridden stomach.

Her back burned, the newly grown limbs twitching and trying to push her even higher. The blue sky wanted to swallow her up all the way, to catch her in its call and keep her there, until she forgot any memory of being bound to the earth.

Instead she turned her focus to the three shapes in front of her. Three dragons flew on ahead; two large, one slightly smaller than the others. In the claws of the pale white dragon, Robin could make out a figure in blue, her long hair snapping in the wind. The gold and green dragon carried a robed figure, the hood pushed over his face. Lucina and Morgan both clung on with a grim determination... though Robin knew Tiki and Nowi wouldn't let either of them fall. The smaller pink dragon soared on ahead; Nah had insisted on scouting, since she wasn't strong enough to carry either of them.

An updraft pushed Robin further into the air as a breeze pushed her hair out of her face. The blue sky tried to envelope her again... instead, Robin held tight onto Argent. Gules and Azure were keeping her children mostly in check, and the silver gemstone would do the same for her and Chrom.

Speaking of...

Her husband flew a little off to her side, the Emblem strapped to his arm and held tight against his chest. Over the gleam of the shield Robin noticed that his eyes remained sharp and focused. And completely on her.

 _'I'm alright,'_ Robin signaled to him, flashing him the ok sign and a weak smile. She didn't have any desire to attack him again, at least-

 _'Stop that. Or else you really ARE going to throw up… and fall out of the sky for good measure.'_ So instead of dwelling on the past, Robin shifted her focus up ahead. Nah had just done a tumble in the air; just one, as they'd agreed on ahead of time for signals. That showed the way ahead was clear.

Shouts drifted up far below them, at the base of the Mila tree. A sign that the battle had begun. And that the flyers had a chance to land on and take the Mila tree, as long as the clash of swords echoed from beneath the branches.

-o-o-o-

The ring of steel was muted in Say'ri's ears, in favor of her heartbeat and the rasp of her breath. Around her weapons crashed and blood flew in splattering arcs. Her own sword gleamed bright, cutting a dazzling arc where it sliced through air and leveled on a cavalryman.

Her legs tensed, and her feet scuffed the ground. On the next breath she leapt, almost as if she had wings herself.

Say'ri led with the blade, vaulting into the rider and knocking him from the saddle. She didn't pause to look down at his body, her steps light and dancing to the side when a javelin tried to find her form. Instead it pierced the rider, pining him to the ground and silencing his groans.

Lon'qu sped past her before the spearmen could launch another volley, and a flurry of arrows followed him. The Rosanne archers fired with precision, softening up the ranks for the frontlines.

Say'ri slashed her way through the Valmese troops. And found herself with fewer swords to parry than before. Or soldiers to face down.

The volcano had done its job of thinning the ranks. Her troops were bolstered by the Shepherds, and she glimpsed Frederick and Sumia holding down one end of the line. Gregor and Cherche were visible on the other, the wyvern circling and diving to pick off troops.

Leaving Say'ri with room to press the charge, and reach the center.

' _You're here to defeat the commander and route them. And keep their eyes as close to the ground as possible.'_

The troop lines were growing frayed, and Say'ri cut through one of the gaps. A sword shrieked through the air and she wrenched her head to the side before it took her ear. Lon'qu slashed into the man's side, giving Say'ri room to breathe and figure out what the troops were clustered around-

"…Step aside." Snapped a voice that Say'ri knew all too well. And the enemy troops followed the command, slipping out of the reach of Say'ri's blade.

Her eyes fell on a figure, standing apart from his men. He'd changed into the black armor their father had once worn, pulling his silver hair up into a tight pony tail. When he met her eyes, it was with the look of a distant man.

Yen'fay held a pronged and regal blade up, and for once the sight of him gripping it made her blood boil.

' _You dare to use that blade, Amatsu itself, for Walhart's means?'_

"How could you!?" She shouted out. "How could you turn your cloak so easily!?"

Silence greeted her. In the void she saw the heads of their family decorating the walls of the capital. The smoke of a burning nation and the screams of a scattered people.

"Was sending us to the Mila Tree an idea from your new masters? To keep us away while they invaded?"

Yen'fay still said nothing, and Say'ri wanted to howl her frustrations. At her back Lon'qu circled, keeping a ring of blades at a bay. The enemy weapons remained stayed, forming the beginnings of a fighting ring.

"...The time for talk is past." Yen'fay finally spoke. "Only steel remains."

Her fingers ached with how they tightened on her sword in anticipation.

"Aye," Say'ri choked out. "I suppose it has."

-o-o-o-

Chrom folded his wings and held his breath. He tried not to focus on how the membrane between his new bones pushed against his arms; how strange those wings still felt if he concentrated too hard.

' _There's more pressing things than that to worry about.'_

They dropped out of the sky in near silence. The men below certainly didn't see their approach, until Nah strafed over them with a thin gout of dragon flame. The fire shimmered scarlet, turning to glass where it hit the ground. The men fared little better, as shards of glass and fire shattered their armor.

But the little dragon couldn't manage much more, apart from sowing confusion and sending some of the garrison running for cover.

Then again, it wasn't much of a garrison; all the troops had clearly been deployed at the base of the tree. As Tiki and Nowi dove to join the fray, Lucina and Morgan jumped clear. They managed to hit and roll against the soft grasses of the Mila Tree, just on the edge of where Nah had strafed. A few sharpened blades of glass tugged at Lucina's cloak, but she wrenched free and drew her blade. Morgan did the same.

Chrom settled for a combination, dropping from the sky with sword drawn. The wind whistled where the rapier cut through it, crashing down on one of the soldiers. His feet slammed into the soldier next, in a wrenching impact. Chrom's target was thrown into the ground, and his wings flared back out on instinct, churning air to keep his balance.

"What is that-!?" One of the Valmese yelled, pointing at Chrom. He stopped the gesture short, slashing with the blade in an arc. The soldiers were forced back, but one of them found room to draw an arrow and fire at Chrom.

He sliced the arrow out of the air, knocking it aside and drawing blood along his forearm.

"Whatever he is, the commander was right! He can bleed and he can die!"

' _Commander?'_ Chrom wondered, still managing to slash with the rapier. His counter attack forced the other soldiers back, into the waiting claws of the dragons.

Robin landed next to him, thunder striking from her fingers and out at the troops. Electricity danced over the black feathers along her back. When she gathered breath for another spell, Robin tried to fold the wings close to her form. Instead the feathers bristled out with each spark.

But the sight of Robin casting drove Chrom forward, all but running alongside her next spell bolt. The crackle of magic was like a starting signal, and Chrom lunged towards the target. The thunderbolt slammed into a man in heavy armor, with the look of a general. Chrom followed, stabbing his rapier into the man armor gap near the neck.

His wings weren't content to be folded in, instead beating the air to give him an extra push forward.

As he drove the rapier past the armor, the blade broke.

 _'I told Frederick it would happen sooner or later. Apparently sooner.'_ Chrom thought to himself. Beyond he saw the dragons drawing most of the enemy ire; but they also easily stood against the bulk of the troops.

Lucina and Morgan had both staggered forward, weapons drawn and cutting into the flanks of the Valmese. Their motions were both carefully measured, the two siblings fighting shoulder to shoulder, one enemy at a time.

"We can win this!" Chrom urged them on. "They didn't concentrate their defense up top-"

"That would be because they know they only require me." A cold voice sliced into his words and ears. It was only one sentence, but it did the job of freezing Chrom in place. It dripped authority, just like before.

With a wrenching motion, Chrom turned around to see the true commander.

Duran stood proud, the second, stolen Falchion pointed squarely at Chrom's throat. A sneer twisted his father's face, as he took in the ragged wings growing from Chrom's back.

"I'd hoped you could do me the honor of dying valiantly on the battlefield... but instead you persist in that wretched half state. And you still cling to that Plegian." Duran looked at Robin with a chilling gaze, and Chrom stepped between them. He brought the broken rapier up, wishing in the back of his head that it was still in one piece.

"What do you plan to do with a broken blade?" Duran's voice dripped with scorn as he looked at his son. "You've learned nothing when it comes to finesse, either. For all the good it will do, perhaps you can learn something now on how to fight."

That was Chrom's only warning, before his father surged forward. Falchion was almost at his throat before Chrom hurled the shattered rapier up. The sword crashed like a hammer into the broken hilt, numbing his fingers and knocking the rapier from his hand.

Over Duran's shoulder he picked out Morgan, turning and staring at them in horror. He grabbed Lucina by the shoulder, yelling something and pointing to them.

" _This_ is how you fight. Without giving any quarter. Regardless of who you face."

All the while Duran and Chrom continued their deadly dance. This time it wasn't punctuated by steel. Instead the Falchion blade hummed and sang through the air... but never found its mark on his flesh. Chrom continued to dodge, duck, and weave away from the cuts. His wings folded and mantled around him, likely tangling Duran's eye and throwing off the former king's strikes.

But the wings also caught the air, slowing Chrom. The first cut he dodged was only by a hand's width. The next was by a finger… and the next, even less than that.

A breath of air behind him told Chrom that someone was moving at his back. A brush of cloth teased his wings, and told him that was Robin's robe.

"There has to be an opening." Robin whispered. Chrom tried to keep his focus fixed forward instead of on her. He had to fight back soon. He couldn't keep dodging forever-

 _'You don't have to keep dodging. You have a weapon.'_ He could imagine Frederick's horrified look already. But Frederick was miles down the Mila Tree. And Chrom had pulled this stunt off once before, years ago.

Duran brought Falchion around from his last overhead swing, laying both hands on the hilt. He leveled the blade, and then leaned forward with his entire body into a lunging stab.

Chrom was ready for it, though. He brought up the Emblem in one hand. The other-

A strange buzz ran over his skin, pleasant and painful all at once. One moment his skin burned. The next it felt beautifully strong... and Falchion rattled off dragon scales. Chrom winced, still feeling the bite of the edge even with the new armor. But it was better than trying to block the strike with flesh alone.

Duran's weapon slid down Chrom's arm. Chrom twisted and turned the blow before catching the weapon between his hand, and the Fire Emblem on his other arm. The weapon bit at his palm, and Chrom let the pain fuel his strength, holding Falchion against the sterner metal of the Emblem.

Chrom lifted his eyes for a moment to see confusion in Duran's features... and a hint of alarm as well. Then he twisted, hard. And just like in the forest fire, Falchion started to scream in protest-

Only for Duran to yank the blade away with just a few traces of hairline cracks in the metal. Pain pierced through Chrom's hand and arm as the blade twisted in such a way that it sheared away scales and drew blood. The remaining scales went slick, the blue and silver stained in crimson.

"You would dare- this is the blade of the Exalt."

"Mayhaps, but it isn't being wielded by one right now." Chrom shot back. He tried to bring his hand up, but the pain from the cuts made it sluggish.

"…You will be silent." Duran growled, stabbing the weapon towards Chrom's heart.

"CHROM, LOOK OUT!" Robin jumped between them, just managing to parry the blade in time. It tore a chunk out of her own sword and the tip of the sword slashed her across the sword arm. It didn't stop there, also drawing a cut in her cheek. Robin gasped from the attack, freezing from the bite of the blade and getting pushed back into Chrom's chest. Duran spun the blade around for another slash, and Chrom grabbed her and dodged to the side.

The motion exposed his back… and true to his words, Duran didn't pull his strike. A line between Chrom's shoulders opened up from pain and his wings flared out by reflex. Chrom staggered forward, crumbling to one knee as Robin fought to keep him standing.

"You'd risk your life for her? For that Plegian filth? You've well and truly lost your mind." Chrom's wings melted into his back, his scales prickling and shivered with each breath. The cut on his back seemed to seep into his spine and blur his thoughts. Robin must have felt the same from her wound, as she slumped against him.

Duran stepped forward, blade aimed at Chrom and Robin, ready to slice them both down.

"And now, to cull the disgraces from the bloodline."

-o-o-o-

The two siblings danced in and out of sword's reach. The seven branched blade Yen'fay carried was a metal wall, turning aside every strike Say'ri sent out. Her brother's eyes stayed narrowed on her… and yet he never once pressed any advantage. Always waiting for her to strike and then parrying, with the same maddening patience.

It was like an echo to when they'd once sparred together. But now with true steel instead of practice swords.

Say'ri growled at the memory, at the way her brother STILL wouldn't treat her as an equal. With a howl Say'ri lunged at him again.

Her sword rattled against the steel of Yen'fay's. The edge of her weapon snagged against one of prongs on his blade, stopping her retreat short. Yen'fay stared through the branches of the blade, down at her.

He twisted hard on the sword, and the hilt was almost yanked out of her hands. Say'ri snapped her hands around the grip, trying to pry the sword loose. Instead it caught in the tines.

' _He'd always do that. Parry me and watch me back off, trying to figure out how he'd done it-'_

But not this time.

Say'ri grit her teeth, and gave up on trying to get distance. Instead she desperately shifted her weight into a plunge, driving her sword between Yen'fay's branches. The steel scrapped together, the tines helping to aim her sword at his ribs.

Her brother met her eyes again… yet he did not wrench her strike aside. Nor dodge the blow. The sword angled between the steel, plunging straight at Yen'fay-

And it drove straight into his side. Her sword pierced the black armor with a shriek of metal, and a pained grunt from her brother where the blade found flesh. The sword cut through his side and blood leaked out in threads, putting color to the dark armor.

Yen'fay collapsed to the ground, his breath coming out in wet gasps. The tined sword dropped from his hands, not even bothering to form a counter strike against her.

Just like that, it was over. When by all rights, she shouldn't, couldn't have won that.

"What- what made you do that? You could have parried that blow-" Say'ri whispered out.

"…Because this was how it needed to be." His gaze left hers and flickered over their countrymen, those still under Walhart's banner. Eyes beneath helms and headbands stared at the two siblings. How one had fallen at the hands of another… and leaving only one to command, Say'ri realized with a sickening jolt.

"This was what you'd planned all along?" She whispered, dropping her own sword and going to her knees. Yen'fay slumped in her grip, giving her a pained but knowing smile.

"As I said… As it needed to be."

-o-o-o-

Her parents crumbled to the trampled grass, under the bite of her own blade. Morgan had gone shock still at the sight, and Lucina felt her own breath freeze in her lungs.

' _No. I'm not standing by and doing nothing! I'm not going to have them die again!'_ She yelled at her limbs to move, and she squinted against a burning that built in her eyes. Her hands shook on the grip of the steel sword, but still managed to bring the weapon up.

"FATHER!" Lucina's voice rang out, and Duran spun around to face her. The two swords crashed together, a chip gouged out of the steel blade. Duran only narrowed her eyes on her, seeing her as an annoyance and little more. He forced his weight against hers, throwing her back.

Lucina slid on the grass, Duran following.

He swung the blade around; Lucina just managing to parry it while her eyes stung with unshed tears. She gained another rent on the edge of her weapon, Duran forcing her back one step at a time.

Chrom and Robin fell away from the struggle. Morgan was still paralyzed from the sights as well; and as they vanished from Lucina's sight, so did the ruins of the Mila Tree. Instead branches rose up in the place of people and stone.

He was driving her to the very edge of the Mila Tree.

Duran paused, staring at Brand burning in her eye, tracing tears down her cheek.

"So much for the heirs. You're just as polluted with that fell blood." Duran growled, glaring at her. He was going to cast her off the edge of their battlefield, right after he shattered her.

His next strike tore clean through Lucina's weapon, and the steel sword broke with a ringing echo. The tip of Falchion lashed at her arm, cutting apart the sleeve and making her skin burn. Her hand shuddered from the pain of the slice, the hilt falling from her grip.

"And so it ends." Duran breathed out, raising his sword hand back for the last strike.

Lucina grit her teeth, her branded eye sliding shut-

And that's when she felt it. A familiar humming deep in her bones, a throbbing down near her wrist. Something clamoring to be let out. Falchion hummed through the air, swinging at her head.

Her own blade, intent on ending her life. Time slowed and she looked from the blade to the man wielding it-

 _'I... I hate him. I hate him for all the pain he's caused Father and Mother-'_

And she could use that hate. The slash along her glove parted by a few more threads, and she saw her mother's mark looking out at her. Lucina stared those eyes... and the glow that flickered along the violet mark. Her eye began to burn again, but Lucina didn't shy from the pain.

Instead she lunged up with a yell, and Falchion glanced off her knuckles and down her arm with a shower of sparks. She heard Morgan screaming her name, terrified over what he was seeing-

What he THOUGHT he was seeing. Only she could tell that there wasn't any blood, just scales getting carved away in shards. When she turned her arm, she had the briefest glimpse of blue scales, shimmering as bright and as brilliant as Azure. Her fingers twitched, weighted down by new claws growing from the tips. The gemstone blazed around her neck as Lucina pushed herself forward, and swiped at Duran's face. She scored a glancing blow along his forehead, and blood welled out of it and into his eyes.

The former king blindly lashed out by reflex, trying to catch her. But his movements were still slow, almost sluggish compared to how light her own body was. She caught the blade in a strong, scaled hand. Blood welled where the sword bit at her palm, but she kept her grip tight.

Lucina held fast and twisted to the side, putting pressure on Falchion. Duran, still blinded, tried to shove back in the hopes he could overpower her.

Instead, the blade gave out. Chrom had weakened it with his first catch, and Lucina finished it. The blade had a momentary crack flash down it, before shattering. The shards exploded out from her, burying themselves in the ground. With the loss of Falchion, Duran also lost his footing and pitched forward.

Lucina met him with a set of claws digging into his gut. His blood washed over her, as Lucina spun around and shoved him hard, reversing their places.

Duran teetered on the edge of the Mila Tree branches for a moment, staring down at the gaping wound in his stomach. His eyes rolled back in his head with a brief flicker of red, and the rest of his body pitched backwards... and then over the edge.

-o-o-o-

When Duran fell from the tree, movement flooded back into Robin's limbs. Panic blared loud in place of the fog coating her brain. Her hand tightened around the gemstone on her neck, banishing the last of the fire in her blood. Her wings faded out with a final snap from her back and shoulder muscles. She yanked Chrom to his feet, and together they staggered to where Lucina was slumping down, hands resting in front of the broken shards.

"...Another broken blade." Lucina murmured, staring down at the wreckage.

"Yes... but now we can find out how to fix it." Morgan told her; he'd found his feet and had dashed hard towards his sister. "Besides, that was incredible what you did! If you break stuff, you at least break it with style!"

"Morgan... that's not exactly encouraging." Lucina groaned out. "But… thanks anyway." She looked down at her hands to see the transformation was receding.

"Well… it looks like you managed to survive." Came Tiki's voice. The dragon had shed her scales, sweat making her green hair stick to her forehead. Nearby Robin could glimpse the forms of Nowi and Nah shimmering, the dragon shapes shrinking back down to something more human.

"I could say the same for you… glad that you could handle the bulk of the troops." Robin answered. The surroundings of the Mila Tree seemed to be coated in glass from the fire and spells, multiple discarded weapons fused into the grass. Of the original Valmese force, there was little to no trace.

' _And no sign of Duran…'_ Robin thought, resting a hand on Lucina's shoulder.

With a few protesting muscles and heavy limbs, they managed to get Lucina on her feet, and draw the last of the changes back in. With Tiki's guidance, they walked towards a spot on the Mila Tree. By Robin's reckoning they were close to the center. And they were also approaching a flat stretch of something that caught the sunlight and filled the air with a gentle splashing noise.

Ripples danced along the surface of a stone lined pond.

"A pool?" Robin tilted her head to the side, unconsciously mirroring Morgan as he did the same thing. "All the way up a tree?"

"A combination of rain water... and sacred spring." Tiki supplied. "Between it and the Gemstones, it provides a potent amount of magical power..." She trailed off, looking at the three they held.

"...Extremely potent, actually." Robin didn't think she was imagining a note of caution in Tiki's voice. The dragon reached a hand out, motioning for the gems to be set in the Emblem. Lucina followed the unspoken directions, as did Morgan, each pressing a gem palm first into a socket in the shield. Robin did the same, putting Argent into the top slot. Her other hand found Chrom, her fingers tangling with his. And when Morgan finished in putting Gules in the Emblem, he took up her hand. Lucina took up a spot at her father's side, eyes on Tiki.

Tiki herself took the Emblem from Chrom and pressed the shield into the water, casting out ripples from the center. The ripples caught sunlight and made the gems shine that much brighter.

The glow lanced its way out through the pool, drawing the eye into the center of it. The Emblem had turned to a single point of bright white light, a small sun suspended in a blue sky of rippling water.

Distantly Robin could hear Tiki giving some sort of prayer. But that sound suddenly didn't feel as important as keeping her eyes on the bright light. It became her world, and Chrom's hand dropped away from hers as he became caught up in the spell. At her other side, Morgan did the same.

The light cleared away by a fraction, enough that Robin could pick out something new taking up space in the pool.

It wasn't the Emblem; not any longer. Instead, fragments of steel hung in the vision, still glimmering sharp despite their broken state.

"Falchion-" Chrom whispered out.

"Do you see it?" Tiki's voice echoed out from the white washed world all around Robin.

"Aye..." Lucina answered. "We can."

"Good. Then focus on what else is around you. What else can you make out?"

It felt like Tiki was asking them to stare into the surface of the sun. But Robin wrenched her eyes up and tried to pick out something else from the haze of brilliant mist around them. The air seemed to... flicker for a moment, and it went from blinding white to an equally blinding bright blue. Flickers of pink, purple, and orange wove their way through the air. It was like-

"Flame. I see flame." Morgan's voice echoed out. "It's... it's like dragon flame, almost. Unearthly, though."

"Yes," Robin managed. That was the best description to the thing; she didn't think even Tiki could managed to breathe a flame that brilliant, that powerful. And she could see Falchion glowing in response to the flames; ribbons of color were now tracing the edges.

The bright pulse extended out from the shards, until the glow intersected all the pieces. It was like a great web, that was slowly drawing the shards together.

"They're getting... it's like they're getting healed by the flames." Lucina spoke at last. Robin tried to look through the flames to get more hints of what else was going on; to get a glimpse of what was making those flames. Whatever the source was, it didn't seem like the creator or the fire could exist on their own world.

Beyond the haze, the brilliance of white and rainbow flames, she caught another nearly eye blinding sight. Her vision was flooded with blue sky, achingly clear. Underneath was emerald grass that swayed like a green ocean at the foot of a-

"A mountain. I see a mountain." Robin forced words out of a throat that wanted to go tight, and not disturb whatever it was she was seeing. "Peaked in white-"

"Mount Prism? That's what it has to- I can see it too!" Lucina blurted out. "It's a ceremony at Mount Prism! Which means those flames must belong to-"

"Naga. I see what needs to be done now." Tiki's voice was laced with satisfaction, and just a touch of fatigue... yet it was also distant. The roar of the flames was masking Tiki's words, making them harder to pick out.

"You should-" the tongues of colors rose again in a burst of flame, searing the vision of Mount Prism from Robin's eyes. "...need to come-"

Lucina screamed out in pain, just like she had when the dragon's blood first manifested. Robin tried to turn to her daughter, where she thought she'd heard the scream-

Only for Chrom to give a pained noise as well, and Morgan had a sobbing note to his breath. And she couldn't see any of them; instead Naga's flames were burning all around her, becoming her entire world and burning in through her thoughts. And they _hurt-_

"Not-" Tiki's voice tried to push its way into her ears, as Robin reached for where she thought someone was. Her skin felt like it was trying to blister and peel its way off of her bones. But for just a moment, her hand closed around someone's fingers, and they squeezed back like she was the only thing that kept them from drowning in the white inferno.

"Right-" Robin and the other person were falling down through the flames, getting pulled away from the vision, from the vaguest, most peripheral presence of the others. For a moment Robin thought she glimpsed, or felt Tiki reaching for them. But they were falling out of Tiki's reach now, the vision drowning Robin's senses and thoughts.

"I can't reach their minds! I can't follow- Something's not right!" Tiki's voice was so distant now. Robin felt herself falling into a blaze of white, only having a heartbeat to piece together the words and a thought of her own, before everything pitched to a mind rattling brightness.

 _'Not right.'_ The bright light cut out then, leaving her and whoever's hand she was holding to fall into darkness.


	50. Oracle

**Chapter 50: Oracle**

Lissa fought through the troops, now gone still with the fall of their general. She tried to push her way to Yen'fay's side, fingers with a tight and determined grip on the healing staff. Lissa clung to the idea that she could do something just as stubbornly. She still had time; he hadn't lost THAT much blood.

 _'Could he?'_ She'd seen the sword pierce through his side. Say'ri had to at least torn through his lung. The stomach would arguably be just as bad-

 _'No. Not thinking like that,_ ' Lissa told herself and pushed through the last soldiers. The fight had faded from all of them when Yen'fay fell. Not that she could blame them; that had been a vicious strike Say'ri had pulled off.

She broke through the ranks, and her heart sank at the same time. Say'ri was kneeling over her brother's body, a thick trail of red running over his side and telling her well enough what happened.

 _'Too late. Too late again.'_

A rasping voice pierced her thoughts; Yen'fay was trying, struggling to say something, but couldn't find the air. Lissa found herself kneeling at his side, staff raised. That was one thing she'd learned by now; maybe she couldn't save everyone... but she could make their passing a little easier, a little less painful. She'd hurt about it later.

Yen'fay opened his eyes, looking over her.

"I-I'm sorry. I can't heal you. I can't-" he voice started to break. "I can't save you."

"But you give me time. My thanks." His eyes were eerily similar to Lon'qu's just then. The look of someone who was facing mortality, but wouldn't flinch from it.

"Say'ri, you asked why I would do such a thing? I'll tell you now; because Walhart would have easily fallen on your army and crushed you. I had to make it seem as though Chon'sin was with him, and you were not worth chasing and exterminating." Say'ri's eyes had gone wide, and her breath came out in such sobs and halting breaths. Her breathing was so labored that it sounded like SHE'D been the one to get her heart pierced. "I didn't send you away to betray you. I just... wanted you safe."

"You noble son of a… I thought you knew it was in my nature to throw myself into danger. I'm all too similar to you in that respect." Lissa wiped at her eyes, angrily blinking tears away. It wasn't her brother on the ground; this pain belonged only to Say'ri.

But that didn't make it hurt any less. Or keep her from imagining Chrom in Yen'fay's place. All at once she felt terror trying to clamp down on her heart.

"Then perhaps... you can live for the both of us. I couldn't stop Walhart from claiming Vert. But I kept him from seizing you as well. I gave you as much of a chance as I could…"

"I'll get it back. And I'll see Chon'sin be free again." Say'ri managed, after a gulp of air.

"I... I don't doubt... it." Yen'fay's words faded, the last one taking the rest of his breath with it. His eyes drifted close, and he slumped into the green moss of the Mila Tree. Say'ri dipped her head low, her body wracked with pained sobs.

"My lady..." Frederick's voice came from behind Lissa. She turned to him, not looking him full in the eyes so he couldn't see how much hurt was in them.

"Y-you should send the word to everyone. Let them know that we've taken the Mila Tree. Right?"

 _'But at a terrible cost.'_ She turned her head up towards the branches, hoping that Chrom had found his way into them, and found what they were looking for. She didn't want to think about losing anyone else. Not today... not _ever_ again, in the case of her own family.

That was when she saw a shimmering, pink form dropping out of the branches. Nah angled through the air, wings fanning out a moment before she hit the ground. She turned her dive into a streak along the ground, back winging as she got close to Lissa.

Lissa turned to face her, trying to keep a knot from tying itself in her throat.

"N-news from up top?" She whispered. The dragon shimmered, a flash of light and tendril's of petal like magic masking her form. In another moment a girl cloaked in red took the dragon's place... and there was a worried look in her eyes.

"Miss Lissa… You need to get up top, now. The lady Tiki is requesting you."

"Wh-what about Chrom?" And suddenly, Nah wasn't meeting her eyes. The manakete's face grew tight as she whispered back.

"...That's what Tiki wants to see you for. I-I'm sorry, but can you please hurry?"

Lissa turned hard on her heel without another word, running to where Sumia was resting with her Pegasus. "SUMIA! Can you get me up top? We need to go, right now!"

Sumia blinked at Lissa for a second, giving her a bewildered look. The next second, Lissa's words clicked into place, and spurred the knight into motion.

Sumia vaulted into the saddle with practiced ease and pulled Lissa up with her. The pegasus threw itself into the air at Sumia's pressing. The horse picked up on the urgency of her rider and left any exhaustion from battle on the ground.

Even so, it felt so slow, like they were flying through a storm instead of clear skies. Lissa kept her eyes fixed on the top of the Mila Tree.

 _'Naga, you took my sister already. Please, please don't take the rest of my family-'_

Finally, they burst clear of the green branches and into the shrine. No arrows greeted them, or javelins. It was clear that they'd at least managed to take the tree. And as Lissa scanned the shrine, she could pick out Tiki's red clothing clear against the grass. And-

"CHROM!" Only Sumia's arm kept her from jumping out of the saddle and crashing into too distant ground. They were too high up for it, and the pegasus rushed to close the distance. They landed right next to the prone bodies, all four of them stretched out on the grass. Lucina was curled in on herself, ignoring the sunlight from how she shivered. Morgan's feet kicked out and his shoulders twitched, but he never opened his eyes. His hands were bunched into fists as if he was fighting something off. Robin and Chrom were deadly still in comparison. The two lay together, their hands clasped.

' _Just like in the Midmire-'_

"Don't touch them." Tiki's voice cut in, holding Lissa still when she would have rushed to their sides. "They're in Naga's hold right now, for better or worse. I don't wish to disturb them with touch... I tried it already once, and they only fell further from my grip."

"Naga's- what are you talking about?" Tiki looked up at her, concern clear in her eyes.

"We needed a vision to discover how to heal Falchion. And I think the gemstones worked all too well as a catalyst. Three together blasted open the gates wide, bombarding them with visions. And now, their minds drift somewhere out of time."

"Can't... can't you call them back?"

"Not easily, and not on my own. I... I asked you here in hopes we might find a different way. Can you reach the Emblem?" Lissa followed Tiki's gaze. The Emblem drifted half submerged in the water, drops running off of the golden surface. "I need someone of blood to take it; we risk breaking our last connection to them otherwise."

Lissa's hand paused over the Emblem as she heard Tiki.

"I...I'm of the blood." She said as much to Tiki as to herself. Owain was proof of that; he carried a Brand, which more than made up for her lack of one.

And while she hesitated, her brother, sister-by-bonds, and niece and nephew were slipping further away. Lissa splashed into the pool, not caring how the water bit through her clothing and left it sodden. She didn't care about looking the part of a princess just then. Her hands found the Emblem... and its glow didn't dim at all when she closed them around it. Lissa pulled herself free of the water, as Tiki gave her a quick nod of approval.

"Good... now take Azure out. If the Gemstones plunged them into this, they might well be able to bring them back. We'll pass the stone onto Lucina in just a moment..."

-o-o-o-

Darkness cloaked all around Robin. Being surrounded by only that was much too familiar at this point, and she fell through it all. Flickers of flame chased her down, but they no longer burned her. Her entire body felt strange, half formed and ephemeral. And utterly alone-

Save for five points of pressure on her right hand. Someone was still holding onto her, fighting through their own pain. And she knew the strength in those fingers well at that point.

"Chrom..." her voice echoed out.

"Not- not letting go." He answered, and the shadows lifted from her vision, just enough that she could pick him out. Their arms were stretched out to the limit as they fell, their hands the only thing linking them together. Robin tightened her own grip, not wanting to lose him.

"No matter what, I'm not letting go." The last of the fire was only a memory now, the last traces of pain leaving Chrom's face. His eyes however, were still squinting from the strain and concentration of holding onto her.

"N-Neither am I. But where-" Robin clapped her other hand around his, to keep their link tight together.

"...Somewhere Naga sent us. Those flames were... unlike anything I ever experienced." The sensation of falling started to slow as he spoke. Hoping she could help with it, Robin added more words.

"Another vision, maybe? But I don't know what-" her words cut out as her feet touched down against something. Chrom came to a stop next to her. Now that he could move, he pulled her close, wrapping his hands around her shoulders. In the same instant the air around them changed. Before, it felt like they'd been falling through a void. Now, the air took on a strange, heavy quality. Almost oppressive, and equally stifling. Robin held a hand up, wondering how she could still make out herself or Chrom in the blackness.

Black filtered in through her skin, like her hand was made out of glass. With a gasp she turned over to Chrom, and saw that he had the same translucent quality as her. It was as though they were both mere phantasms, wherever they were.

A thread of light cut through the darkness, silver as though from the moon. Robin picked out someone in front of a long, slitted window, drawing the curtains back the rest of the way. All she could see at first was an outline, a shadow against night sky. The figure turned from the window, the moonlight falling across a feminine form. The light played across her features for just a moment, and Robin went still when she saw her own eyes in the woman's face… or near enough to being her own. The same color, the same determined look. The woman's hair carried a similar color to her own, but the rest of her features were those of a stranger.

The woman walked across the distance of a vaulted room, approaching an alter in the center of it. Something was swathed in blankets, crimson and purple in color, and it gave a mewling cry as the woman drew close. She picked the bundle up, and a small hand poked out from the cloth.

The moonlight was just enough for Robin to pick out a purple, six eyed mark on the hand. A strangled noise tore itself out of Robin's throat, as Chrom tightened his grip on her.

"Don't cry, sweetling." A familiar voice teased at Robin's ears. Tears blurred her vision as the woman pulled the bundle close to her chest, arms settling protectively over it. The woman's voice was oddly choked, echoing Robin's strained breaths. "I-I swear that I'll look after you. You won't have the destiny they want to force on you."

"Maela?" Chrom's voice whispered out, as the vision faded out.

"Mother..." Robin spoke into the blackness, before the scenery shifted around them. She saw her mother saddling a horse, riding out into a still, night drenched desert with her child bound close to her breast. The air opened up around them, no longer trying to crush any of them under its weight. Her mother sat taller in the saddle.

The vision changed again. Maela lead a small Robin by the hand, guiding her through her first steps. Then placing gloves over Robin's hands. Absently, Robin closed her own hands together, covering the mark.

"You must never let the world see it. It's your own secret," Maela's words echoed in her ears, and Robin wanted to choke out why. Another blink in the vision and Robin caught a different glimpse of her mother, this time with a thread of blood running across her forehead from a gash. She grunted out in distaste, leaving her blade buried in the chest of a man in Plegian robes, dark and easily suited for an assassin. She took up his sword as well, before drawing a young Robin close to her and fleeing into the night.

"She... she was always protecting me." Robin choked out, knowing the words were true.

"But why?" Robin continued. "Why was she-?" She had to know. Had to understand why-

"Mommy, are you hurt?" A young voice pierced her thoughts. She saw herself, only knee high reaching up to touch a new wound cut into her mother's shoulder. Maela gently guided her hand away, applying a healing poultice to her shoulder with her other hand. Distantly, Robin saw another dead form... but this time he wore Ylissean armor. Armor that could have easily come from Duran's time.

"A little, Robin. But it will heal."

"Bad men again? Why do they-?" Maela laid a finger across her daughter's lips.

"The world has many bad men, Robin. But someday we'll find a place where there are fewer." She promised the child.

"But.. but didn't you get hurt because of-?"

 _'Because of me?'_ Robin finished the thought, as Maela drew her daughter close and hugged her.

"I will protect you however I must, Robin. Always. You are my daughter…"

Chrom's breathing pulled Robin's mind away from the visions. She turned her head up to look at him, seeing his familiar blue hair falling over his eyes. They were bright with unshed tears; she knew her own face was a match. Remembering the grave marker they'd found together.

But watching him, she remembered two others who had fallen through the flames with them. She'd heard them crying out for help, in pain-

And at the very edge of her hearing, Robin swore she could hear their voices.

 _'I have my own children to protect.'_ The thought flickered up as she looked at Chrom's face. He blinked his eyes, seeing the resolute look settling on her face. Robin slowly turned, putting her back to the visions. They tried to pull her back, and Robin knew that there were answers waiting for her if she'd only turn her head again-

"I have to find Morgan and Lucina." She spoke aloud, and felt the world begin to shift around in response to her words. Chrom kept his hold on her, giving a tight nod. He let go of her shoulders, trailing his hand back down to take her own. Together they began to walk through a strange, shifting landscape. Robin caught glimpses of things that could have been a palace, torches burning bright and gaping hallways. She didn't let her eye linger on any of it, instead searching for her children.

"Lucina? Morgan?" Chrom called out into the shadows.

"N-no. I don't want to-!" Both their heads snapped up at the words. Morgan's voice echoed off the halls of wherever they were. The dark mists swirled around them, barely held at bay by the torch lights. Robin broke into a run, pulling Chrom with her, and the purple haze in the air retreated up into the rafters.

"Morgan!" She called out. Ahead of her, a robed figure materialized out of the muggy, choked air. A hood was pulled over the face, and she heard sobbing breaths echoing off the walls. She swore that they were both Morgan's and she reached out to the figure-

Her hand was still pale and translucent, and passed through the shoulder and back of the person. The hooded head didn't turn towards her. A second later, a crackle of electricity split the air before being followed up by a wet tearing noise.

Robin looked beyond the figure, and saw someone wrapped in white and blue fall to the stones of the hall. She froze when she saw a glimpse of blue hair, and a familiar scarred brand showing on the shoulder.

 _'I've seen this before-'_ The thought chilled through Robin. And she wasn't the only one who recognized the sight, either.

"I don't want to remember-" Morgan's voice sobbed out, and Robin lifted her head from the fallen figure. Just beyond the body and the robed form, she saw Morgan crouched, hands threaded through his blue hair and clutching at his skull.

-o-o-o-

That... that was him crumbled to the ground. Chrom knew that as he watched. And a robed figure was hunched over him, the fell brand just visible on their hand. Magic snarled and snapped over the palm, matching the energy that jutted out of vision-Chrom's body.

"My dearest hate..." he whispered the words out, feeling like he was walking through a dream again. His vision shifted around, and suddenly he was laying against stones, feeling something cut into his side. He looked up, his throat trying to whisper out something-

And found himself looking up at his wife's face. But there was a strange light in her eyes.

Then Robin flinched under his hand. The motion jolted his vision, forced his vision to shift.

And suddenly he was back to standing next to her, hand resting on her shoulder. His gaze settled on Morgan, and Chrom found himself running towards the boy in the same instant Robin did. The phantasms of their vision-bodies blurred past them, and Chrom gladly ignored the sight in favor of his son. They both encircled Morgan, but he wouldn't lift his head up. His shoulders shuddered, his breath coming out in sobs.

"You can't put this in my head again… Gri-"

"Morgan, stop; we're here now." Chrom found his voice. But instead of comforting Morgan, the boy flinched like the words were a burning brand.

"Y-you can't be here. You're dead!" Morgan shook his head back and forth. But still, he blinked his eyes open, daring to look at them for a moment. Morgan lifted a tear streaked face up to Chrom's voice… but paused at something beyond them.

Chrom found himself looking as well, and he found himself staring at the two forms hunched on the floor. Flames washed over the bodies-

And he could see a pale dragon rising up from where the white cloaked figure had fallen. It beat at the air with familiar blue wings, howling in anguish as blood flowed out from a hole under its ribs. In the air above them, five points of light glittered with a cutting, bright light.

"This wasn't supposed to happen again! I DON'T WANT THIS!" Morgan howled out from grief. "I don't want to remember-!"

The dragon howled with rage as the ceiling above them began to crack apart.

"Lucina, I'm sorry…" His son choked out... and the world blurred around them again. The castle hallway shattered and fell away, the figures around them melting into flames. Chrom clung to his wife and son both, covering them against winds and debris swirling around them.

He lifted his head when he heard his daughter screaming.

"LUCINA!" Robin tore herself upright at the same time. The both stood up, casting their glances around and tried to pick out where they'd found themselves. And where Lucina's cries were coming from. They stood on a precipice now, above a burning city. Broken bits of pale stone jutted up from the ground, like bones of a castle-

 _'Ylisse?'_ The thought flickered across his head, terribly familiar like the stone work. Something beat the air, a massive rush from heavy, impossibly large wings.

And he looked up. Into a nightmare. A massive beast blotted out the stars of the sky and turned everything crimson from the light of its eyes.

' _Grima.'_ There was nothing else that thing could be.

"Your mother and father are DEAD, tiny one." A voice scrapped into Chrom's ears, full of malice and hate. Horrifyingly familiar, like something straight out of his worst nightmares. He heard someone taking in sobbing breaths next to him, and he saw Robin trembling in the corner of his gaze, eyes gone to whites. Her form had gone still, save for the shudders wracking through her, her gaze fixed on the thing above her.

And he swore that from the pinpricks of iris he could see, there was a thin line of crimson taking place of the normal hues of her eyes.

Chrom threw and arm around Robin, holding her close to his chest.

' _It's a vision. Only a vision. It's not real-'_

Chrom tried not to keep his gaze fixed on the monster above him. Instead he tried to pull Robin back. Her breath shuddered against him… but slowly normalized.

 _'Lucina.'_ The thought came back to him. His eyes suddenly landed on a figure in blue, her cape flapping feebly against the breeze. His daughter stood alone, trying to stare down the massive thing taking up all of the sky. And completely oblivious to her family, further downslope. Her arms were shaking, but she still tried to bring the blade up against her enemy.

"NOW, it is your turn... to DIE!" The word screamed out in a horrible roar, and the massive beast brought its head down, jaws stretched wide enough that Chrom was sure they could swallow the entire hill they were on.

Lucina screamed out defiance as she stared along the length of the blade, holding it up as the dragon tried to close its fangs around her.

"No no no no NO!" Morgan's voice tore through, and his son barreled past Robin and Chrom both, rushing to her side. He was howling defiance as well. His eyes were glazed over, not even registering that his parents were there; he was still lost in the visions.

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER TOO! DAMN YOU THAT'S MY SISTER!" Lucina broke away from the dragon, staring at him in disbelief. Above them, the jaws yawned around them-

Only to suddenly close off as the massive head wrenched its way to the side. The jaws clashed together as a strained, pained noise emitted from the dragon's throat. Something that could have been a monstrous, sobbing noise. The six points of crimson light in the eyes dimmed for a moment, and the body shook as though something else was fighting for control.

"Take Lucina and GO! All of you!" Morgan screamed out. Chrom somehow knew that his son wasn't talking to them. He was staring out to someone else. Likely the other children-

But he and Robin would have to do in their place. He rushed to Lucina, closing his arms around her as she stared up at him in disbelief.

"Father? But- you died! How can you be-?" She was lost in whatever they were in, Chrom knew. Memory, future, shared vision... he didn't know at this point. All that mattered was pulling his children out of whatever it was they were trapped in.

Nearby Morgan gave a pained noise, staring into the six red eyes. Just like in the prior vision his hands yanked up to clutch at his head. The fel dragon's eyes were narrowed to slits, the dragon fixing its gaze on Morgan.

'… _Gods… he said something PUT that memory in his head, didn't he?'_

Under that baleful red gaze, Chrom shivered. The fel dragon was still making those odd choking noises, but he was certain it would snap out of its own daze soon enough.

And even if he was sure both Morgan and Lucina were fated to survive this encounter… he didn't want to stand by and have them endure a moment more of it.

"Lucina, Morgan!" The wings of the fel dragon beat at the air and the wind cut at Chrom's face. With a start Chrom realized his body was growing more solid. His flesh lost its transparency when Robin's hand found his. They both reached out for their children, hands settling on their shoulders.

Lucina started from the contact, as did Morgan… but they both seemed to recognize it. At least that seemed to be the case, going by the shocked squeak Lucina made; it sounded almost like 'father.'

"Mother-?" Morgan choked out, his hand fluttering up to hers and his shoulders tensed; he looked ready to flinch away again, waiting for something horrible to happen. Instead Robin hung on, and Chrom mirrored her, tightening his grip on Lucina's arm. The four were the only lifeline they shared in a world that was determined to go mad all around them.

"We're not leaving you. Not this time." Robin promised them. "NOTHING is going to change that."

Lucina blinked, the haze clearing from her eyes at those words. For one breath, her sight was clear and focused; not on the dragon, but on those next to her.

-o-o-o-

Lissa glimpsed it for a second; a change in breathing in the four forms. Lucina flinched, rolling over onto her back. Her hand twitched, like it was trying to reach for something-

Almost drifting towards Chrom.

"Give Lucina the gem." Tiki's voice called out, as something strange flickered across the features of all four of the family. Lissa darted forward, and pressed the gem into Lucina's grip. The second it touched the girl's fingers, it blazed bright blue.

-o-o-o-

A blue light appeared in Lucina's hands, so bright that it put the red vision above them to complete shame. It shrouded them all in a gentle blue haze, and the vision around them suddenly cut out with a ringing noise.

Chrom blinked at the change, but kept a grip on Lucina. She wouldn't slip away again, he vowed; no matter what sort of changes were wrought on them. A sudden flare of blue in her hand wouldn't stop that.

Lucina's sword had turned to mist, and she stared at the globe of light cupped in her fingers. Morgan had completely snapped out of his trance, staring around with cleared eyes while Robin kept a hand on his arm.

"…What… all just happened? Luci?"

His sister yanked around to stare at them all. Her face was still pale from terror, eyes darting around the mist. She looked like she was still terrified Grima could find a way to strike at them, no matter how tranquil their surroundings had gone.

"I… I was dreaming?" Lucina managed. "I had memories playing out in my head…"

She trailed off, eyes lifting upwards. Overhead something lit the way, a ray of light piercing the haze and turning into a shimmering halo.

' _Come back.'_ Came a voice, echoing down and muted from the distance. But Chrom thought he heard Tiki's voice in the words.

And even without wings, gravity loosened its hold on them. Chrom's feet left the ground with a sigh and scuff, the same with the others. Lucina almost flinched from the sudden motion, but didn't yank away from him.

They started drifting upwards, the thin ring of light calling them back.

Through the shroud of blue, Chrom blinked as things turned gray for just an instant. The pulling remained, drawing him back upwards. But for just a moment, his surroundings were coated in rain. He glimpsed a man in scarlet armor atop a massive war horse, glaring down his axe at someone laying in the ground.

Basilio's eyepatch was sheared from his face, and his form was a mess of blood.

But for just a moment, the man's sides fluttered. Somehow still breathing, still alive... though Walhart did not seem to notice it. Chrom tried to reach out the same time Lucina did. But just like that they were yanked away from the vision, and the world turned bright and brilliant again… Until the light scattered, turning into flecks of white against blue. Chrom blinked his eyes, and realized that somehow he was back to looking up at a clear sky.

And Lissa was staring down at him with tears in her eyes.

"Oh gods... thank the gods, you made it back! You are FORBIDDEN completely from ever scaring me like that again. At least for the next three months, since I know that's the best I'll get from you. From ANY of you." Chrom lifted his head up with a groan, and saw the others stirring around them.

"What...?"

"Naga's vision or something like that." Lissa supplied for him.

"Lady Lissa, with all due respect... it is not just 'something like that.' Naga wanted to show them all something." Tiki cut in. Chrom turned his head to see the manakete kneeling next to him

"And... I've got a suspicion of what it might have been." Came Robin's voice. Followed by the sigh of clothing as she tried to stand up, rubbing at her head. Her eyes were half open, either from sleepiness or concentration. "Tiki… can Naga show anything in time?"

"I wouldn't think of it as being beyond her powers. If she can open a door in time, surely she can impart a glimpse for people, past or future."

' _Or present.'_ Chrom swallowed, remembering the sight of Basilio crumbled in the grass.

Robin nodded at that, letting her breath out in a slow sigh. Lucina was still wide eyed and staring around her, trying to be sure what she saw was real. Morgan was taking her by the hand, drawing just as much strength from her presence as his.

"If nothing else... I know what it is we need now." Robin told them, and Chrom nodded.

' _Focus on what you have to do, for now. Not Basilio, or… or any of that.'_

"All five of the gemstones. Naga's flames are what will reforge Falchion."

And that plan seemed to draw Lucina's attention, as she looked over at her parents.

"R-right. Right, I remember the first vision now. And if we have that…"

"…Then maybe all that other stuff doesn't come to pass." Morgan finished for her.

Tiki made a humming sound to all of that.

"I feel something like that teasing my memory now. And perhaps, I have a means to help a little further. There's residual magic in the spring that I can tap, due to the intensity of that spell." She glanced to Lucina.

"Lady Lucina... you still have shards of the parallel Falchion, do you not?" At Lucina's nod, Tiki held her hands out.

"I am not the same as Naga; she is beyond my power like the sun is to the moon. But... I may be able to temper a temporary blade for you, using the pieces. Something that you can carry into the battle to come."

"And secure the gemstones so we can reforge a full Falchion?" Lucina finished. Something sparked in her eyes, and Chrom had a similar feeling flicker up, in place of the confusion.

"Then... I will gladly take it. And give my thanks, for the hope it bestows." Lucina glanced back down at the blue gem in her hands, continuing in a smaller voice. "Hope that the future still isn't beyond our grasp to change. And… I'll cling to it with all my power."

Lucina climbed to her feet, helping Morgan up as well. He was shaky on his feet, still blinking his eyes. And there was a certain focus to his vision, that hadn't ever been there before.

' _All her power, eh?'_ He wondered if it was the same power that had linked them all together, in the visions. That had let them find strength, and fight their way out of the nightmares.

-o-o-o-

Broken. His broken body hung between one world and the next, his mind either clouded with agony or settling in a blank void.

Duran heard someone moaning from pain, and realized with disgust it was him. Vaguely he was aware that his body lay in a wedge between tree branches; they had broken his fall before he made it all the way to the ground... and had also broken most of his bones as well. He was vaguely certain his shoulders and legs weren't supposed to be at such a sharp angle with one another.

 _'This is how it ends-?'_ His thoughts barely managed... and yet for all of that, it WOULDN'T end for him. Some strange spark made him cling to this broken body, and he knew that he could remain like this for days before whatever kept him alive finally left.

 **"Well. This is a tragic sight and state to find you in."** His eyes sprang back open at the voice, echoing in his head... and yet he wasn't staring up at branches. Instead he found himself in a void, shrouded in a thick purple tinted miasma.

Someone stood ahead of him, their features shrouded. But the voice echoed off of the figure, rumbling through his ears, echoing in his head and thrumming into his bones.

"Who... are you?" He pushed command into his voice, but it still came out hollow in front of the presence.

 **"Ruin, power, and the end of a wronged world. You and I are much alike in that way; forces meant to set things right."** The figure raised a hand as she spoke; her voice had the faintest echoes of something feminine, beneath the sharp and commanding edge to it. **"I am the dragon who gave you life again, my voice commands you from beyond the grave... and I may yet have more use for you."**

"You... you aren't Naga." A chill was trying to press itself into his heart at that. But at the same time, he felt curiously numb to everything.

 **"No. I am her match in power and majesty, however. I'm certain even you can see that."** Duran found himself nodding, despite himself.

 **"I've still need for you, and a purpose. I'd thought I'd given you enough power the first time... but clearly it was not enough. Your own kin cut you down, Exalt."** NOW an emotion flared through him; rage. He felt his heart beat a little stronger at it.

 **"And you hate them for it; that is only natural... and yet you have no power to do anything about it. Your body is broken, but not gone. It would take too much power to spin another form from nothing... but I COULD restore this one."**

"What's your price?" Duran shot back, glaring at the figure.

 **"You swear yourself to me."** He should have objected to that... but instead of turning his back on the figure, Duran found himself hesitating.

 **"Your own kin and line are freakish now, and stray from the path. They squander the power they're given."** At those words, his hand went up and traced the scar along his throat.

 **"You, however... you could purge that poisoned blood free from your line and reinstate the right way. And I can give you the power to do so. Harness the ability in your blood line."** The figure held out a shadowy hand as she spoke.

Duran reached out and took it. And his blood began to burn from the touch.


	51. Shadows of Battle

**Chapter 51: Shadows of Battle**

Robin couldn't blame any of their group for being hesitant to charge back into trouble. Between the battle to take the Mila Tree and the sudden struggle through visions, she felt bruised in bone and in thought.

So instead of calling out orders, Robin found herself leaning against one of the more mosey ruins. The vegetation formed a soft cushion against her back, and Robin shut her eyes to listen.

"…No shouts from down below." To match the quiet she kept her voice to a murmur. "I'm guessing that means the battle is resolved."

"Lissa wouldn't have come up to us, if it hadn't." Chrom answered; he rested next to her, their shoulders brushing together as he tried to find strength. Robin nodded, wincing a little; to add to the bruises and cuts from the fight, she was also sporting a bump on the head from where Lissa had tackled her and Chrom into the ground once they woke up.

Granted, she'd healed them and agreed to give them some space, once she was sure they were awake.

"I caught a few snatches from Lissa on what happened… though to be honest I didn't understand a lot of it. Gods, but I feel like I just flew- _ran_ seven leagues."

Chrom rushed to correct himself, and Robin blinked over to him. A faint pink was on his cheeks, and he had his eyes fixed to the ground. Likely removing any temptation for his Brand to act up.

"There's a lot to figure out; starting with that mountain we saw."

"Mount Prism…" Robin sighed out. "From what I remember from books on Ylissean geography… that's over a continent away from us."

"It's not all," Chrom admitted. "Those colored flames… I thought I saw echoes of Gules, Azure, and Argent in them." His fingers went to each socket of the Emblem as he spoke. "And if that's the case…"

"Then we're still two gemstones short. That makes sense according to Lucina's song, too." Robin lifted her head to their daughter.

Lucina, ever defiant, still had strength to stand. She lingered at the edge of the pool, and Robin half wanted to call her away.

' _You're being irrational; the magic is well dimmed by now. It won't pull her back in…'_ Even with those thoughts, Robin's hands balled into fists. Chrom rested a hand over hers, guiding it back to the Emblem.

"We've taken the catalyst away, and Tiki said it would be safe." He pointed out.

Another robed figure moved next to Lucina; Morgan, staying by her side and watching a new ceremony unfold. Tiki had waded into the pool, submerging the broken shards of sword. With the way Lucina watched them, Tiki could have been healing their daughter's arm instead of just a sword.

' _Just a sword… that was all she had of her family.'_ Robin's thoughts pointed out again. _'Small wonder she attacked and overpowered Duran, the way she did.'_

With that in mind, she sat up a little straighter to watch the spell unfold. The waters washed over the shards with a ripple and a dazzle of reflected light. Robin threw a hand over her eyes to shield them from the flare.

Then she found herself busy with blinking the spots from her vision. A splashing sound reached her ears, and her sight cleared enough to show Tiki lift something glimmering from the waters.

"…I'm afraid that's the best I can do." Tiki finished, looking over the newly forged blade. "There's only so much the residue of magic can do… and I had a hard time driving out the taint from the former handler."

"Duran…?" Chrom whispered, turning Tiki's head. The manakete nodded.

"A shadow seemed determined to hang over my sight, when I first submerged the shards. The waters were hard pressed to wash the shade away, and then use what was left of their energy to heal the blade." Tiki lifted the new Falchion up. Just a glance told Robin it wasn't the same weapon as before; it was a lighter and far more slim cousin to the original two handed sword. One that anyone could hold with a single hand, instead of just Chrom.

Tiki waded through the waters, and Morgan brought Lucina up to meet her. Their daughter stretched her hands out, reverently taking the blade from Tiki. There was a light back in Lucina's eyes, one that said it didn't matter how the blade had changed; it was still _hers._

"I promise I won't cut any apples with this one." Morgan grinned when he spoke. He traced a symbol that could have been Naga's tear over his heart, to solidify the promise. Lucina rolled her eyes at that… but Robin also didn't miss the smile on her face. She also didn't miss the way Chrom snorted at the comment, while trying and failing to hide the smile on his face.

Their reverie was brought short by a flutter of wings, and the whickering of horses. Robin lifted her head to the sound, and Chrom found his feet, turning to the noise.

The pegasus riders showed up brilliant white, pawing the green shrine grounds with their hooves.

"Well, good to see that you're back with us!" Sumia called out, while Cordelia gave a crisp salute. "Believe it or not, Lissa asked us to do some reconnaissance once she was sure you'd be alright."

"…Lissa asked you to do that?" Chrom blinked, and earned an outraged "HEY!" from nearby. Lissa moved out from a crumpled and root tangled shrine, glaring at Chrom.

"You don't need to sound _that_ surprised, Chrom. I can make plans too; gods only know I've seen you and Robin do enough of that for it to rub off." Robin wisely kept her mouth shut, instead focusing on finding her way to her feet. She curled her hand into the moss covered ruins, focusing on the soft touch so her head wouldn't swim from the sudden shift in balance.

"If I may interject?" Cordelia spoke up, easing her way from the saddle. "It was a sound call; and as a consequence we have some reports to give."

Lissa quieted at that, giving a nod. That only lasted a second, before she had to duck her head as a sudden draft tried to tangle her hair. Right behind the pegasus riders was a low thrum of wind, and Cherche guided her wyvern down to land.

"Spies and recon both, milord." The wyvern rider picked up the news. "Turns out some of the younger riders have a talent for uncovering information."

"What did they find?" Robin managed, swiping her bangs out from where they'd been blown into her face.

"Reports from the base of the tree, for starters." Cherche answered, turning her head to the branches and what lay beneath them. "The Mila Tree is… securely in our hands now."

Robin didn't miss the pause in her voice.

"So what makes it a hollow victory?"

Cherche didn't bother to refute that, something Robin was infinitely glad for; it made it easier to reach the heart of the matter.

"Yen'fay is fallen… and Chon'sin now swears fealty to Say'ri. We have our rallying point." Cherche seemed to flash between satisfaction and sorrow.

"We… also found out something else interesting. Courtesy of Say'ri." Sumia motioned to the Fire Emblem. "There's another gemstone here in Valm, called Vert…"

She trailed off when both Chrom and Robin brightened at that.

"But it's in Walhart's hands now." Cordelia supplied. "It was one of the first things he took, once he conquered Chon'sin."

Trust nothing to be simple. Just behind her, Robin heard Morgan groan at that. He and Lucina must have both drawn in close, to hear the reports.

"It's a complication… but then, we always needed to take the fight to him." Chrom murmured. "We have more than enough cause now, with what he's done to the neighboring territories. And hopefully we have enough forces recruited that we stand a fighting chance."

"Right." Robin answered. "Like you said, we need to determine what sorts of odds we're up against. Any reports on that-?"

She trailed off, as Sumia joined Cherche in averting their glances. Only Cordelia maintained eye contact with them… and there was a hard light in her eyes, like the rider was steeling herself for something.

"Gerome and Cynthia met with scouts and spies, several leagues from here. From the sounds of it… Walhart rode out personally to meet Basilio's forces. And he-"

"…He… didn't make it?" Robin managed around a throat gone dry. Nearby Lucina sucked in her breath in a ragged noise.

"D-dead? But, I…" Lucina trailed off. "That's twice now… That I've failed."

Cherche could only give a nod, confirming the loss.

"…What was the result of the skirmish?" Robin glared at her hands, watching them ball into fists when she spoke. She hated saying the words… but she also had to know.

"Before he fell, Basilio inflicted damage on Walhart's forces. More to the point, he's drawn the conqueror's attention away from our movements; Walhart's focus is on healing the cracks caused by multiple losses. His movements indicate that he's falling back, retreating to his capital."

"So if we're going to make our move…" Robin started.

"This is the best time for it." Chrom finished. "The other nations in Valm might just rally together, if they think they have a fighting chance."

He glanced at the Emblem, and the incomplete gems. "And there's no sense in running away from this."

He raised his eyes to look at Robin… and she was taken aback at the trust still in them, even after they'd fought their way through such nightmares. He certainly didn't look like he was expecting his death.

"…Understood." Robin's own voice rasped a little. "I'm ready to start mobilizing the troops. And I can come up with a plan of attack as we march. In the mean time…"

She turned to Cherche.

"Chon'sin has a new ruler. We've demonstrated our strength in taking back the Mila Tree… and we have Naga's own Voice with us as well. If the Dynasts are going to rally to our banner, it will need to be now. Find your best fliers, and send out the messages with them; that we'll march on Walhart's forces and soon."

-o-o-o-

"Are you SURE you're okay?" Lissa pressed again as they moved through a forest. Their travel was swift, thanks to being a small group; most of the other Shepherds had set out ahead of them, thanks to some urgent reports and last minute decisions from Robin.

Morgan watched his father rub at his temples, fighting down a groan.

"This is my real punishment for breaking Falchion and growing scales at the Mila Tree, isn't it? I get you to pester me for gods know how long. How many times do I need to say 'yes' until you believe that I'll be fine and ready to fight?"

"In rough order of answers: yes, yes, for at least another three hours, and until I'm satisfied you can go into battle without keeling over. If it makes you feel any better, I plan to be just as stringent with the rest of your family."

"It doesn't make me feel better. At all." Chrom answered. For that matter, Morgan felt a bit of a chill over the last bit, and wondered if he could melt back into the ranks of the others before Lissa spotted him.

That thought was swiftly dashed when the healer turned to him.

"Now as for you-"

"No, sorry, I don't have anything else unusual to report on!" Morgan squeaked out. "I-I admit that might be because I'm going over plans too."

"That's supposed to be Robin's job." Lissa dryly informed him.

"Maybe, but to be honest I'm happy I have another mind on it. I don't want to overlook anything... as we're going to need all the brainpower we can get for this battle to be successful." Robin spoke up from behind Morgan, resting a hand on his shoulder. And this time he was glad not to flinch from the contact.

' _It's different from before. This isn't a bad dream I'm in the middle of.'_

"Though… Morgan, that reminds me. We haven't been able to talk much about this due to the need for preparations… but what was that vision we glimpsed?" Robin seemed to pick up on his own thoughts, and Morgan almost froze.

He had to remind himself what they were marching towards, and that they couldn't afford any delays. Even if he was reluctant to bring up those visions again.

"You mean… that sight of you both-"

"…Dying." Chrom finished the thought, altering his pace so he walked next to them. "I admit I'm curious too. And not out of morbid curiosity." His father sighed, shaking his head. "Because the thing is… it matches something I've seen in my dreams. I want to know more about it, too."

The same must have been true of his mother, with the strained hum in the back of her throat. Lissa, for her part went absolutely silent. Lucina kept her back squarely to the group, but Morgan had the feeling she was stretching her ears to listen in.

"There's not a lot to share… I just have those images in my head, like an old nightmare that refuses to go away." Or an illness he just couldn't shake, now that it had resurfaced. The surrounding air seemed to go a touch colder, the sunlight more watery and faint.

"…Though… I didn't always have those in my head. I think that…" He squinted his eyes, trying to think back. "It was when we first saw Grima. Y-yeah, that really DID happen, just as Lucina remembered it too."

Only in reality, no family came to their rescue. They'd both been forced to run as the Fell dragon lashed its head back and forth… though thinking back, it had been more of Lucina running and dragging him along, as Morgan staggered from what had been put in his head. He said as much aloud.

"Before that, I DID see Lucina trying to face that thing all alone. And… I couldn't let her do that. I ran up to try and shield her… though to be honest I didn't have much of a plan beyond that. But I think something about that sight made Grima pause for whatever reason. And…"

And those six glowing, red eyes had stared into his; had pressed that memory into his head, of his parents dying. And of him being powerless to do anything, only a phantom spectre.

"I think Grima was trying to break my mind, or subdue me, or SOMETHING. All that dragon pulled off though, was overloading my brain and making me forget everything." Morgan rolled his shoulders in a shrug. The motion felt tight and forced. "To be honest… I think I was willing in some ways, to clear that from my head, even if I had to erase a lot. I don't really want to dwell on it now-"

"And you shouldn't have to." Robin's own voice was muted. "I'm sorry for making you dredge that up again."

"Well, maybe it'll help you form a counter plan? Maybe?" Morgan tried to offer, hoping he could find some sort of silver lining. "I'd be a little more okay with remembering that vision, if it means helping."

Robin gave a hesitant nod at that, but Morgan clung to it anyway.

"Do you remember anything else? Now that you've had that vision restored?" Chrom's voice came in, tinged with concern.

"Not a lot, if I'm honest. Things are blurry past that. It's sort of like… looking at a book where all the pages have been torn up and scattered. I can read words, and sentences, but I don't really understand how they all connect together." Morgan watched Lucina, still facing resolutely ahead.

' _She had to endure a lot more than just some bad visions.'_ He reminded himself. _'How many nightmares has she gotten through? How much pain does she still remember?'_

He didn't feel quite so melancholy at that. Especially when Lucina tilted her head back a little to him. She didn't say anything, but there was an understanding light in her eyes. Something that reminded him he wasn't alone in struggling through this.

"Well, outside of those two memories it gets a little more hazy for me. But I get the impression of us being on the run, of the others helping us out and finally uncovering Naga's spell to send us back. So… mission successful in that regard, right? Right." Morgan finished the thought himself.

And if no one said anything in response to that, there was at least an agreeable silence. And they all marched through it together.

-o-o-o-

' _One last camp night.'_ Chrom told himself. And for once he didn't feel a particular restlessness or need to patrol the borders. Maybe it was just because they'd been marching for an entire day, pushing themselves enough that even _he_ was feeling the edges of fatigue.

Or maybe it was just the feeling that they'd done everything they could. All that remained was seeing what would happen next, and be ready when the pieces fell.

"You're looking at peace, love." He blinked at Robin's words, lifting his head to see his wife near one of the tents. The canvas fell near her like a white curtain, Morgan and Lucina peeking out underneath the folds.

"For once… yes, oddly enough." Chrom admitted. "Maybe it's just knowing that we've done all we can."

An air of silence settled across the camp. The entire force was taking one last breath before the battle ahead. No messengers stirred from the camp; every letter that could be sent to dynasts or rebels already had been borne away.

Say'ri's forces had gone with the sun, further silencing the camp, as had a few more detachments of the Shepherds. Even Frederick had taken his leave with Sumia, after one final pebble collection run around the camp.

"I admit, I probably have enough tension for all of us." Lucina sighed out. "I worry… about everything. I couldn't stop Basilio from his fate-"

By reflex, the vision replayed in Chrom's head; of the flicker in Basilio's sides, and the near black blood the coated the leader's form.

But then, Chrom wasn't fully certain of what he saw in the grip of Naga's spell; if it was truth or not, or just a trick from spell-weary eyes.

Robin stalled that conversation, raising a hand.

"Lucina… fate doesn't hold complete sway over us yet. And give yourself some credit; you carried the fight at the Mila Tree against a dead king. And the memory of you and Morgan pulled us out of that swarm of visions."

Lucina raised her head a touch at those words, and her eyes brightened.

"And we're going to need your help for tomorrow." Chrom added. "Every sword that we have will be needed."

His hand went to his side, and the new sword that had been given to him by an exasperated Frederick. Lucina glanced at her hands, almost like she was expecting them to grow scales in anticipation.

"Well… I suppose so." Lucina dropped her hands back to her side, still not sounding entirely convinced. But Chrom's words must have had some effect on her, with how her fingers drifted back to where the re-forged parallel Falchion hung. The gold of the hilt and pommel caught the wane moonlight, and seemed to gleam with a light of their own.

-o-o-o-

Robin didn't much care for the bolt of unease that traveled through her. But something about the sight of the parallel Falchion set her teeth on edge.

' _Maybe it's just a reminder, of how you failed in your own task and Chrom had to suffer for it.'_

Or that a habit of breaking things seemed to run in the family, a wry part of her brain supplied.

"Though come to think of it," Chrom continued. "There's a few last minute preparations to make."

By now, unslinging the Emblem and removing the gemstones from it was an easy act for him. He did so effortlessly, his eyes never leaving Robin and his family. And while Lucina twisted her mouth into a frown, she didn't argue.

Oddly enough, it was Morgan who hesitated in taking Gules. The red light made him pause… though after a moment he stubbornly latched onto the gem.

"I- I'll be alright." He said, before any of them could comment. "Besides, we've got a job to do… and I'm sure I'll work through this eventually?"

He didn't sound completely certain on that, however.

"I won't slow you down, promise." He continued, glancing over to Lucina. "So… you'll still be okay with me fighting next to you-?"

Lucina stilled his words with a motion from her hand. Azure glinted between her fingers.

"Nothing's changed when it comes to that, Morgan… those visions didn't change the fact that you're my brother. And now that I know what Grima did to you, I want to look out for you. I've a debt to repay, with how you drew the dragon's ire."

"Hah, for all the good it ended up doing-" Morgan tried, but Lucina shook her head at that.

"There was something about both of us standing together… something that made Grima hesitate." Lucina whispered. Those words brought the vision back, painting the scene in Robin's mind. Seeing her daughter screaming defiance, both her children having to stand against something with overwhelming power and malice… and with it came a strange ache in Robin's chest. Her eyes stung as well-

' _Likely from what you saw ALMOST happen to your children.'_ She tried to tell herself. _'But they're here; they're alive.'_

That seemed to do the job, the pain in her heart subsiding like a fist uncurling. Back in the present, Robin caught the tail end of Morgan whispering a thank you to Lucina.

"There is one thing I'm grateful for, that the vision reminded me of." Morgan said. "That I was ready to do anything for my family… ha, guess that's STILL true!"

Finally a lighter note worked its way into his words, sounding like the same Morgan Robin had first met in the ruins. Lucina must have heard that as well.

"Well, you're not allowed to risk your life any further. Lissa's orders… and mine too." Lucina nudged him in the side with her elbow, making him wince and laugh at the same time.

"And I'm going to guess part of those order involve me getting some rest?"

"Right." Robin and Lucina both found themselves saying that at the same time.

-o-o-o-

Dawn brought a final march, and Morgan soldiered through it.

"Don't you hear that?" Chrom tilted his head to the side, and Morgan did the same as the same noise ghosted his ears. Lissa, marching nearby gave him a puzzled look. But Robin's head jolted up as well, picking up on the same thing. Ahead of them he saw Lucina tilt her head a little, trying to pick out what it was.

Something was teasing the edges of those with sharper senses, it seemed. And with a jolt Morgan realized that applied to him as well.

"Tactician." Panne suddenly spoke up from behind them. "We are approaching the battle... and it sounds as though we do not approach it alone."

Morgan gave his mother one glance, and could easily guess at the look sparking across her face. She broke into a run the same moment he did, leaving the other Shepherds behind as Lissa shouted protests.

But just then, he felt light as a breeze. He easily tore through the grass as they broke from the trees and approached a hill. Morgan went through the maps in his head like lightning; forest edge there, a rise in the ground there, which meant that just up ahead-

"Walhart's fortress." And there was a roar of a thousand or more voices beyond that hill. They both hit the hill crest at the same moment, and found themselves looking out. Ahead of them stretched a long plain, the hills rising here and there like waves and wrinkles on the landscape. Just visible were the walls of an immense fortress, standing proud against the landscape. The doors were thrown open at the moment, almost daring the resistance to step forward and face the conqueror.

They'd just have to get through the army outside in order to do so. Rank upon rank, the Valmese stood. Their scarlet tabards and banners fluttered in the breeze, all of their weapons and armor in immaculate condition. They hadn't yet begun to charge, but a roar and a cheer was building through their ranks. They numbered in the thousands, and were well aware of it.

 _'Those aren't the best odds in the world...'_ Morgan thought to himself, but pulled his gaze away from the enemy ranks.

That was when he saw the rest. They didn't seem like much, at first. Only a half thousand troops taking the field, perhaps less. Down the hill Morgan could pick out the green of Ylisse's flag, and saw the rest of the Shepherds doting the ranks. There was Frederick standing at the front, Sumia mounted beside him with a group of pegasus ready to take to the skies. They'd all been arranged according to Robin's plans... and yet still, they seemed so few.

Robin's answer to that was put her fingers to her lips and make a loud, clear whistle. Morgan turned to her, and saw that Chrom and Lucina had also made it to the crest of the hill. Shortly behind them were Virion, now mounted up on a horse of his own, and Cherche preparing to climb onto Minerva's back. From the forest behind them came another group; Say'ri moving in front of the remaining Chon'sin army. A pale shape detached itself from the allied troops and sprang into the sky. Morgan held his breath as he watched Tiki circle the sky.

 _'What is it like, to fly like that?'_ For a moment he longed to know, until he felt Robin tug at his sleeve.

"Keep your thoughts together, Morgan." She whispered to him, and brought his hand up so it brushed against Gules. The contact pulled Morgan away from Tiki, and down to the ground again.

But he didn't overlook the sight the silver dragon made. Between her and Chrom at the top of the hill, they made for a rallying banner; one that prompted a few more groups to begin moving forward, rising up from the folds of the hills in a glimmering host.

"The dynasts?" Morgan tried.

"Looks like it. We have the rest of our army." Morgan nodded, watching as the ranks began to swell. A cheer was sweeping through their own ranks now, almost matching the Valmese in volume and fervor.

They might have a chance to win this, after all. And he'd do whatever it took to see they would.

"Stay close to me." Lucina said at his side. "I'll keep you safe, I promise."

"Hey, Lucina... I think you've got it backwards. It's going to be MY tactical brain that keeps you safe! I got us this far, right? W-with the help of Mother, true, but I still helped!" Lucina snorted a little at that.

"Just... just stay by me, Morgan." Morgan's answer was to bump shoulders with her, and flash her a quick smile.

"Don't worry, Lucy. I'll watch your back, you'll watch mine, and-" The rest of his speech got cut off as Chrom raised a hand and a new sword to signal everyone. A roar swept along the lines, as they began to march.

Then it was all Morgan could do to keep up with his sister as they dashed forward, and Lucina in turn rushed to keep up with her parents.

And ahead, the great fortress of Valm loomed, ready to preside over all.


	52. Of Swords and Knees

**Chapter 52: Of Swords and Knees**

Excellus hated how his face still stung. Scarred as the wound was, it still ached whenever he twisted his lips. Reminding him of the half-blood witch that gave him the wound. But he could use that hate; harness it as he weaved spells. A parchment of paper lay in front of him, the corners stained a dark red.

He'd received this and little else from his benefactors across the sea. It had arrived one late, fog soaked evening as Walhart's forces prepared for battle. The scroll had arrived on dark, silent wings courtesy of an outlander pegasus rider. And had left none the wiser on the nature of his benefactors.

The rider that gave him the message and spell only said there would be eyes upon him, watching the outcome. She'd favored him with a thin lipped smile before climbing back onto her pegasus, the two black shapes vanishing back into the night.

' _With this, however… they should be pleased by what they see. I can tap this power.'_

In fact, he was just a little unnerved at how easily the spell came to his command. But only a little.

He just finished weaving the spell, when heavy, armor plated footfalls crashed into his hearing. Excellus grabbed the parchment, throwing it into the fire before Walhart could glimpse his workings.

The conqueror clearly hadn't seen anything, as there were no questions asked. Only declarations.

"There's an army at our doorstep." Yet for all that news, the conqueror didn't seem vexed. Excellus merely giggled.

"Oh indeed? Perhaps they're waiting for a welcoming reception? Between our forces and the traps I've laid, I can promise you they won't be bored. It should be quite the spectacle."

"And if I told you the Dynasts were converging on this place as well?"

"Bah; as weak willed as they are, they won't stand for long. Their loyalty is fleeting as leaves against a frost." Walhart only gave a slow nod at that, before turning from the room, back towards the main hall.

"Not staying to watch the events? I can promise you this window oversees everything-" And had a few wards worked into the stones, that he _knew_ Walhart knew nothing about… but the warlord waved off the idea like it had a distasteful smell.

"…I've no wish to rest on my laurels. I united this land with my own hands, and I'll finish this rebellion just the same. Not that I'd expect you to understand such tactics."

Excellus let his breath out through his nose.

"No indeed? Pretty words, considering how much I've accomplished-"

"…And lost. I haven't forgotten the debacle at the volcano. And it seems your face hasn't shed the reminder of that either." Walhart's eyes slid over his scar. Excellus fought to control his seething. "You should pray that your plans hold well against our enemies today. And that you can repay the damages that enemy strategist inflicted on you."

Walhart said little else, vanishing from the doorway. Excellus sneered at him, turning to the table and window again-

Again, his face ached. As did the scar that ill tempered witch gave him.

Just then a restlessness seized him; he HAD to see that wretched girl die, first hand. There wouldn't be much of a risk, he reminded himself; not with the spell charged and ready.

' _Though if something unfortunate were to befall our poor conqueror as well as our enemies…'_

Excellus found himself eager to follow the emperor, and to see the spectacle unfold.

-o-o-o-

His horse's hooves bit into the turf. A grassy swath lay before him; open ground that the mare was eager to charge across. Frederick held tight to the reins, breathing in deep while he still could. Soon enough the air would be choked with dust, and the green around him trampled down into a worn, torn bare earth remnant.

"Now?" Sumia murmured out, her own mount prancing as they moved forward.

"Wait a moment longer..." his eyes measured the distance. There were the enemy archers, preparing to set up. The distance between them closed just enough that he could glimpse the glint of the sun off steel arrowheads.

"Now." Sumia lifted into the air at his signal, as did the rest of their flyers. He saw the archers lift their eyes to the targets, preparing to fire-

"ARCHERS AND MAGES, LOOSE!" Robin's voice rang out, and on cue a hail of shafts snaked out behind Frederick and over his head. Fire joined them, heating the afternoon air. They cut into the lines, a herald as Frederick spurred his horse forward. He stared down the length of his spear to the first of the foot skirmishers.

"Your last breath approaches," he shot out, right as the fighters recovered from the salvo and stared up to face him. A shudder ran through his arm from the impact of spear against flesh, and he kept charging. The thunder of hooves was joined with a splintering of wood as the spear began to give out.

He let the spear get wrenched from his hand, close to breaking as it was and drew the axe at his side instead. Behind him he heard Sully bellowing out curses and shouts, her sword going to work. Stahl didn't yell as loudly, but the screams told Frederick he was doing his work just as well. Their cavalry drove through the ranks like a wedge, leaving behind chaos and death. Spears and arrows tried to find weakness in him; his armor turned all of it aside, the same with the rest of his cavalry. They continued to smash their way through like a massive mailed fist.

The ranks would be closing behind them soon, though. Frederick knew that; they'd be surrounded...

"How well will you die?" Lon'qu's shout cut through, and Frederick turned his head just enough to see a blurred shape drop a short distance from the sky. They had their rear guard now, courtesy of the pegasus riders. To either end he could see the dynast forces rushing in on the wings of the Valmese forces. Walhart's men were caught up in a pincer maneuver.

They had a chance to win this, he knew. They just had to-

His horse screamed and lurched to the side. A second later he glimpsed baleful red eyes staring up at him. Smoke emitted from the mouth, along with a growling moan. All around him more screams echoed. The Valmese line was collapsing all around him, the soldiers suddenly having to fight a war on more fronts than they could imagine.

Underneath him a dark miasma cloaked the ground. Clawing its way up from the mist was a half rotted hand, and a hooded head pulled itself up from the ground. The fabric was worn thin enough around the eyes for the revenant to stare at him.

"Risen!?" Frederick choked out. The horse sidled away from the revenant, and Frederick cast desperately around him. He found himself seeing the lines of the dynasts breaking apart as well; holding firm in some places, but in others they had to fight off things clawing their way up from the ground.

This battle was nowhere near over. If anything, it had just begun.

-o-o-o-

The sunlight had gone strangely dimmed and strained, like it had half the strength as before. Lucina didn't have time to wonder over the change, instead charging forward to meet the next wave of Valmese.

The new blade in her hands was a familiar stranger. The weight and balance was entirely different, but the edge was still the same sharp thing she was used to. It cut through mail and armor plate the same as before, the glimmer of the gold cross section and hilt a familiar sight.

The blade also still did the job of clearing a path for her. She kept her steps measured, and Morgan shadowed her one step at a time. Her cousin Owain was ahead of her, finally leading his own charge.

 _'Just as well that he is.'_ She thought. A familiar ghost of pain was beginning to trace its way along her marked hand. Now it was HER trying to keep her hand under tight control. Lucina gritted her teeth against the pain. She knew exactly what her blood wanted to do.

She promised herself that they'd make their way to the castle gates. Hold it open for the main forces to sweep through and take Walhart on with his surviving retainers en masse. She could handle that much, Lucina told herself-

"LOOK OUT!" A voice screamed from above her. Cynthia cried out just in time for Lucina to whirl around and catch a blade that would have crashed into her skull. She found herself staring into crimson eyes, and a dryness grabbed her throat as she caught the scent of decaying flesh.

"RISEN! THEY'RE ALL AROUND YOU-" Cynthia shouted out, before breaking off and wheeling away. A wyvern tried to close with her, with half rotted wing membranes stirring the air. The pegasus rider darted away, getting into a desperate chase. For a moment it looked like the wyvern would seize her and her pegasus up in its talons-

Only for an arrow to pierce its breast.

"YOU PICKED A WRETCHED TIME TO CRAWL BACK UP FROM THE GRAVE!" Noire's voice snapped out, full of rage and all fear forgotten. Lucina did her best to emulate that, pushing the dry fear back. Now they REALLY had to win this-

 _'Your mother and father are DEAD, tiny one.'_ The voice rang mockingly in her head. And as she watched the Risen, her hand ached in time to a stinging trying to cover her eyes. She wasn't going to fall into that memory, no matter how much it haunted her.

And not matter how much of an echo of Grima was in those dead, red eyes.

The Risen lashed out at Ylisse, Resistance, and Valmese alike. The fighting pressed in around her. A sword plunged at her face and Lucina wrenched herself to the side. She hit ground and inhaled a choking black smoke that DID make tears run down her face. Aching pain kept shooting through her hand as Lucina pushed herself back up, eye on the sword blade-

It belonged to a Valmese, still determined to ram the sword through her heart. Lucina brought Falchion up and parried the second blow just in time- and saw an axe hew through the man, sheering his arm clean off at the shoulder. He fell aside with a gurgling scream as an arrow pierced his ribs. Lucina stared up to see another Risen standing behind him, blood dripping from the edge of the blade.

She didn't let the axe fall again, lunging up and piercing the Risen. Falchion still parted undead flesh easily enough, and the Risen dissolved in a blur of black mist and dust. Lucina glanced around as her vision swam, suddenly going sharp and clear. It didn't matter how the miasma clouded her, her gaze could easily pierce it.

And she saw how desperate the fighting was. Robin spun about, and Lucina froze over the red glow she saw in her mother's eyes. A strange purple light flickered around the edges of her robes, drifted in her hair as she turned her head. The purple lines flickered all around her... but her face was masked in concentration. Her mouth opened, yelling out something to Chrom.

-o-o-o-

"We need to cut our way to the castle front NOW! The Valmese on the field aren't our priority any longer!" Robin shouted into his ear. Chrom gave a nod, and plunged his blade into the throat of a Risen. The thing crumbled to the ground, fingers gripping the sword and wrenching it from his grasp. Chrom let it leave his hand, knowing that he wouldn't have much use of it anymore anyway.

When he turned to face Robin, his eye caught on a ripple of something passing over her skin-

Not just over her skin. Sticking to her clothing and hair as well. A strange, faint glow that ghosted over her form, shimmering violet against the magic soaked air.

In the back of his head, a memory of glowing white flames sparked to life. And in his heart, he felt a heat build up and send licks of fire into his blood.

Naga's spell work clearly wasn't through with them yet. And the ambient magic stirred it back to life.

His own skin was pulsing out a blue aura in answer to the threats and spell work. He couldn't afford to dwell on this manifestation… especially not when it came with an extra gift. His body was the lightest it had been in days, his blood humming with eagerness.

Chrom tightened his hand into a fist, and let the change rush over him. He let the scales flow along his limbs, let his back twitch and arch as the wings stretched out behind him like a second cloak, fanning the air and pressing back some of the dark mist.

Some of the shouts stilled around him, a shocked hush taking their place.

When the Risen tried to rush them, he met them with claws open. His talons sliced upwards in an arc, tearing through the half rusted armor and rotted flesh like it was butter. The Risen bled black mist as they fell, and Chrom lunged through the ranks.

When they tried to flank him, Robin was at his side, lashing out with her own claws. Her scales were a near match for the miasma around them. Together, they sprang into the air when a collection of wyverns tried to sweep in on them. They sliced through the wings easily, and with each strike clawed their way further and further up into the sky.

Up in the air he could easily make out the chaos of the battlefield. Risen had sprung up all around the field, and the Valmese were fighting both forces. A group of cavalry were cutting their way towards Virion's squad. But Chrom could see how their swords were still drawn, how the spells were aimed squarely at his own forces.

Valmese foes, then.

Chrom wheeled around and plunged back down towards the troops, a howl tearing its way from his throat. The cavalry horses wheeled and reared in panic from the sound. The lead rider tried to control her horse, only to leave herself wide open, her armor rattling where Chrom smashed into her. The mounted fighter folded underneath his dive, hitting the ground.

Pheros stared up at him, the whites of her eyes showing. Her gaze couldn't decide where it wanted to rest, flickering between the pale wings arching over them, or the scaled hand and claws poised over her throat.

"Naga keep us-" she was whispering out a prayer... whether against him or not, Chrom wasn't sure. Slowly, he drew his talons away from Pheros' throat. She swallowed tight, staring up at him.

"Look around you." The words croaked out from his throat as Robin alighted next to him. A lighting spell crackled from her fingers and slammed into a Risen axe man as he tried to close with them. "The Risen don't care whether you are Resistance or Valmese, Dynast or commoner."

"You don't fool me," Pheros spat out. "You still aim to win this field and take Walhart's head. I've accepted HIM as the ruler of our nations; he has the strength to keep us united. And you wish to fight him."

"...Yes." Chrom admitted. But he wondered, over the hesitation in her words; she still stared at the changes that had swept over him. "So if you want to fight, say the word. Otherwise, I'll leave you to fight for your own life."

She was still staring at him and Robin... and her gaze finally lingered on the brand burning bright blue against his shoulder. Something passed through her face, and he distantly recalled her words of seeing the Exalt herself.

"...Go fight your battle then. I'll choose for myself how I die. And it won't be against your own men." Chrom nodded and turned towards the rest of the fight, eyes on the castle gates. The archers and spell users had all gathered there, ruling out an approach by the sky.

' _Unless you want to become a giant target.'_ His wings folded in around him, Robin doing the same. Just ahead, he could see more of the Shepherds fighting; scattered now and desperately trying to help those who had no experience fighting Risen.

"I see a path through." Robin's voice echoed in his ear. Through the gaps, Chrom's eyes focused on the forward guard of Shepherds; the troops had formed into a circle, long spears holding the Risen at bay while the swords wielders darted forward to inflict wounds where they could.

"We can pick up a few more troops along the way, and still reach the gates if we move fast." He nodded to Robin, and together they prepared to charge.

-o-o-o-

Lucina desperately lashed out; trying to find her way and her family in the chaos. She could at least pick her way towards the edge of the field, where their objective still stood despite all of the chaos unfolding around it.

Her heart was truly pounding hard now, and Lucina grit her teeth against the burn settling along her arm and wrist, or stinging at her eye. She tried to focus only on cutting her way through and nothing else-

A white form blurred by almost under her nose, followed by a violet one. Lucina blinked, and saw Chrom and Robin plunge into the fight against a line of Risen. Lucina's breath hissed out when she saw the changed flesh of her father and mother both.

The two moved something like gods, something like demons with how ruthless their attacks were. And her own blood was singing in time to their strikes. Fatigue fled out of her arms in favor of a beautiful painful heat searing all along muscles and giving them another burst of strength.

When her blade went up and blocked a strike, Lucina saw a glow racing along her sword arm; threadbare at the moment and dim against the sunlight... but trying to grow. It pulsed stronger with each stroke she made, each cut she carved into the ranks.

"Lucina, dodge left- your OTHER left!" She lurched the wrong way under Morgan's voice, and dropped down almost a second too late. Fire blazed past her and slammed into a Valmese soldier and horse, knocking the knight clear from the saddle and leaving the horse wheeling away in a panic.

She grit her teeth, trying to will down the pulsing in her arms. _Something_ in her tried to respond to the flames, only dying when Morgan drew closer. Gules drank up the heat from the flames, leaving Lucina to shiver.

"You're using spell tomes-?" She just managed as she fought her way to her feet. She'd almost dropped the Falchion thanks to the tumble. Morgan reached down to take her hand and help her up; through her gloves she could feel heat sticking to his skin, and her own six eyed mark twitched and throbbed from the contact.

"Gules is doing the job of protecting me; don't worry, Lucina. I told you that I'd watch your back, and I mean to stick to that-" Morgan trailed off. He bit back a curse when a new line of scarlet clad troops rushed towards them. With a mutter he threw his spell book back open, chanting something under his breath.

"Kill the Exalt's brats!" A voice rang out, shrill and angry. With the way the noose of Valmese drew around them, Lucina knew they'd both been marked. Ahead of her, Chrom turned in response to the shout. His eyes went wide when he saw they'd been cut off.

"Kill them, kill them, KILL THEM!" The voice screeched, and at last Lucina realized who was shrieking commands. Morgan didn't look up from his spell work, weaving a wall of fire to try and give the two breathing room. But Lucina lifted her eyes, up from the hypnotic weaving of the flames…

And there was Excellus.

"Tear them apart, and you'll drive their leaders to madness too! We only need their blood to bait a trap for them!" He urged the soldiers. Morgan's spell dimmed around the edges, turning more phantasm than fire. The soldiers slashed at the spell with sword and lance, further fraying his concentration.

Lucina forced her eyes above the fire again, spotting a pocket in the chaos; through was Robin, the violet of her swirling robes snapping like a banner. She'd heard Excellus. Saw what he planned to do-

And with the rage settling across her face, it was clear his plan was already underway. Robin gave a maddened howl, the aura around her snarling and almost eating the wane sunlight. She rushed the line, not waiting for anyone to fall in next to her. Her irises shrunk to pinpricks, and she drove a clawed hand into a soldier's face.

With the strike, another layer of scales grew along her throat, almost twisting her face into a mess of glimmering, violet-black wounds.

"Oh gods…" Lucina choked out. Excellus sneered… though he also took care to keep soldiers between him and Robin. Her mother either didn't notice or didn't care that she was getting outflanked, eyes fixed on Excellus.

And still trying to protect Lucina and her brother. Putting herself in danger for _them_ , because they couldn't keep up.

Robin tore through another soldier, residual lightning charging the air and sending a shiver down Lucina's back. She was about close with Excellus-

A wall of red and white mail collided with her. Robin's teeth parted in a strangled cry, drowned out by the crash of metal. The horse that had stepped into her path didn't so much as flinch from the impact… and neither did the man in red armor, seated atop it.

' _That's-'_

"…So this is the best the gods can muster, with their blessings?" Walhart's voice was as sharp as the sword he drew. The weapon was rippled and veined with red, like a bloody claw.

"I've crushed better foes in my time." He brought the blade swinging down on Robin's head.

A crash followed, and Chrom gave out a strangled noise. When Lucina blinked, she saw her father standing over Robin, scaled arms crossed to halt the path of the blade.

-o-o-o-

Chrom grit his teeth, locking his arms against the edge of the blade.

' _Gods, what is that thing made out of!?'_ Whatever it was, it was a mark above the usual swords. It ate into his arm and scraped the edge from his scales.

"…Better." There was a grudging almost huff of a laugh in Walhart's voice. He stared down at Chrom, a hint of interest in his eyes. "So we finally draw you so called 'blessed' into the field."

Disgust tinged his voice, and Chrom fought to keep himself from flinching. There was an echo there that he didn't like.

He finally took in the conqueror, and decided immediately that the faint flicker of vision from Naga did the man no justice. Or warn him just how strong of a sword arm the man had… or the weight behind his voice; the man was a ruler, Chrom knew with a lurch in his gut.

"Look beyond you." Walhart's words had the force of a command, and despite himself Chrom looked. The dynasts had hacked their way clear of the Risen… but now stood apart from the battle. He swore he saw Pheros among their number, keeping her own riders at bay. And all of them were waiting. Watching.

" _Now_ they'll see the limits of the past, once your head hits the ground." Walhart continued, forcing Chrom's eyes back.

Robin knelt against the ground, shaking her head back and forth to try and clear it. Chrom simply grit his teeth, throwing his weight against Walhart's strike until the warlord wrenched his blade aside.

"Drawing on such bygone creatures… are you not ashamed?" He slashed once, twice, thrice as he spoke. Chrom's back screamed from the effort of parrying the blows. His wings ached, longing to mantle out-

' _And making me a bigger target.'_ Chrom kept them snapped close to him; though Walhart must have noticed how they pulsed and fluttered. The warlord stared down the edge of his blade at Chrom, measuring him… and finding him wanting.

He'd seen that look before; proud and arrogant, though on a different face.

"You're only the puppet of faded gods. One last feeble gasp of their legacy." Walhart narrowed his eyes at the blood covering Chrom's arm, weeping from the rents he'd slashed in the scales. "…And clearly not much of one. When I kill you, I'll make it clear that we owe nothing to the gods. Not their fates, their destinies… that we bow our heads to no one."

He drew the sword back for a killing strike.

"You know… you remind me of someone." Chrom managed to rasp out, stalling Walhart. "He seemed convinced he was the answer to every problem he saw, too. Just as arrogant as you… and ultimately the same pride-blinded murderer as you."

He spat the last, and rushed Walhart. The wings snapped out and shoved against the ground, letting him leap into the air and crash straight into the conqueror.

-o-o-o-

Walhart's horse gave a shriek as Chrom closed with the warlord. Her father slashed away with both sets of talons, the warlord crashing from the saddle into the ground.

The conflict seemed to freeze around them.

Morgan rushed through his own fire, ignoring how it lashed at his arms, scoured a burn along his shoulder. His priority was reaching Robin, and helping her to her feet.

In the back of her head, six bright crimson lights continued to burn in place of the flames. Walhart drove a mailed fist into Chrom's gut, forcing him off. Chrom lashed out with his claws, and she could see the same light in her head gathering around his arms. The talons barely managed to turn Walhart's strike.

Morgan reached his mother, helping her up, while Robin desperately flung out spell after spell. One of her bolts crashed into Walhart, catching him mid strike… and forcing him to give ground.

' _He's lost this battle-'_ Lucina had time to think… but she also saw something the other three missed, focused as they were on Walhart.

Excellus slipped into spell casting range. The man raised his hands, and a gout of fire spilled out of his palms. It burned through the air, clawing its way on smoke strewn fingers straight towards Chrom.

 _'NO!'_ The thought wailed through her head, and Lucina threw herself forward. Her feet churned, and she all but threw herself into the path of the spell. Morgan turned his head at the motion, eyes shooting open in horror. The spell jolted its way towards her heart in place of Chrom's-

She held her hand out, and the spell thudded to a stop against it. Fire lashed along her arm, tearing her sleeves to ribbons... but she felt nothing, save for a hot blaze coming up from her skin. The shredded fabric hung around her arm. For a moment Lucina thought she was looking at the light of Azure reflected on her skin. The next, she knew it was scales; they stopped the spell short, while her claws tightened around the fire and threw it to the ground.

Excellus blanched at that.

"Grima burn it all… soldiers, protect your emperor! Form ranks, and get him back to the castle!"

The fact that Excellus would be taking that as a free transport back to safety wasn't lost on Lucina… but just then the weight of what happened caught up to her, and she couldn't manage anything more than sheathing Falchion.

-o-o-o-

 _'The dragons are among us again.'_ Frederick wanted to wheel his horse back around and help Chrom and his family... but the orders stuck in his mind, bitter as they were. Frederick dug his heels into the horse's sides, and she sprung forward.

' _They need a path to reach the fortress, and I'll make it for them.'_ His horse still had wind in her lungs, while his arms found strength to swing his axe. Risen turned to mist against the blade, the corpses going truly dead and still.

He never saw the Valmese arrows until they thudded into him. One stung his cheek as he ducked his head and brought his mailed arm up against them. His horse wasn't so lucky; an arrow caught her in the chest, another thudded in her leg. She broke the charge and crashed to the ground with a pained scream. Frederick could have matched that, his leg between the horse and the ground. He was sure he heard a crunch of bone from the impact. Pain tore through his leg either way, and Frederick bit his teeth around a scream that wanted to work its way out of his throat.

The axe tumbled from his grip in the fall, burying itself blade first in the ground. Frederick uselessly strained, trying to reach his weapon. The tendons on his arm strained, clawed at the earth, but he stayed pinned to the ground. His leg ached when the horse snorted. Her sides heaved and each press from her sides spreading the splinters in his bones.

She couldn't get up, and he couldn't push her off. Trapped under the horse, he heard a drumming of hooves as another horse and rider approached. For a moment, he hoped it was Sully or Stahl. The hope was dashed when he glimpsed the scarlet tabard of a Valmese, more scarlet streamers decorating the spear that was now leveled at his heart.

Frederick stared up at his death, waiting for the spear to strike home.

"Don't trip don't trip DON'TTRIP!" A different sort of battle cry reached his ears, and the sky above was obscured by snowy wings. The pegasus screamed, lashing out against the ground-bound horse with hoof and teeth. The rider brought his spear up a second too late, before a different spear crashed into his chest. The weapon was wrenched loose, tearing the rider along with it and wrenching him from the saddle.

The pegasus landed, sending the horse away with an angry, shrieking neigh.

"Frederick? FREDERICK! Don't you dare die from just that-" Sumia's voice reached his ears, and a familiar face appeared above his own. Her hands gripped at his shoulder, shaking now that the skirmish was done. Around him, Frederick realized that the battle had gone still, most of Valmese broken and running.

…Because just beyond their lines, the Dynasts had settled on a side. They'd regrouped, as was clear in their shouts. And they were pushing those still loyal to Walhart back into the castle, one step and sword slash at a time.

"I- I will live." He had enough presence of mind to say. Sumia let her breath out in a sigh, before turning her attention to his horse.

"There, there... you'll be alright sweetie. Don't struggle and I'll get these arrows out." Sumia whispered as she drew out a vial of healing brew. The make of the glass suggested something expensive… and Frederick didn't feel all that shocked that she was spending it on a horse. Sumia uncorked the potion and poured it over the horse's wounds. With a groan the beast lurched upright. Sumia darted down and pulled Frederick's foot from the stirrup.

The motion sent agony along his knee, and Frederick couldn't keep a pained noise from escaping between his teeth.

"Curse me... I think it's broken." Sumia's face went pale, telling him it wasn't just his imagination that a knee wasn't supposed to twist that way.

"Ah- oh gods, sorry!" She squeaked out; she gave her horror a second to play out across her face. The next she shook her head, banishing the expression. "S-stay on the ground, Frederick. As soon as we can, we're going to get you healed and out of the field. You've done all that you can."

-o-o-o-

Robin's breath froze when he saw Frederick go down. She just picked out Sumia diving to rescue in time. Too many people were getting too close to death.

Ahead she could just glimpse Lucina diving and darting through the ranks, sunlight gleaming off something along her arms.

"I-is that-" Chrom started to say, but shook his head when a shout came up from the Valmese forces; to protect Walhart, and get him back to the castle.

Excellus had joined Walhart and crawled back behind enemy lines, the snake. Lucina had sent him there, and Robin glared at the retreating figure. Her wrist throbbed, and her blood burned hot; she had to keep after him, to make him _bleed_ for everything he'd done-

"Look out!" Chrom's claws caught her by the shoulder, yanking her back where she would have charged forward. Robin bit back a snap, eyes blazing in anger when she glared over her shoulder at Chrom-

But she didn't miss the sudden crackle in the air. Chrom yanked her back another pace, and a bolt of lightning slammed down on the spot Robin had been standing.

Robin blinked blood and battle haze from her eyes, forcing herself to calm down and _look._

One last wall of soldiers stood before them. But they were well armed, separate from the battle that had swept like wildfire through the ranks of the others. Any Risen that approached had been cut down by spears and swords... and the ranks still held, fresh and ready for a fight. They hadn't budged once, to come to the aid of their fellows. Robin didn't know whether to feel impressed or completely disgusted.

At the front she picked out a familiar figure. His mustache was trimmed again, and he roared orders for his men to stand. Cervantes' bellowing kept his men well ordered, and unflinching against their enemies.

' _Those swords look well sharpened-'_ Robin had room to think. It seemed they were saving their best troops and weapons for this last line of defense. Past the troops, she swore she saw the red glint of Walhart's armor.

So the conqueror wanted to see how things played out.

They were in for a hard time, when it came to breaking the line. Robin knew that. Her arm ached from the weight of scales, and she glared at the armor.

"Ready to try tearing through?" Chrom asked-

Only for a roar to come up from behind her along with a drumming of hooves. She thought that Frederick's cavalry had exhausted themselves, and whirled around in disbelief.

She wasn't looking at the mottled spectrum of coats that made up Frederick's cavalry. Instead she faced a wall of white horses, the sunlight working its way back up to full strength with the diminishing strength of the Risen. The light glimmered off of their mail and the scarlet touches.

At the front she saw Pheros leading them. Robin grit her teeth and let another burst of magic move through the scales of her arms, giving her strength as she prepared to square against them-

But the valkyries didn't close with her. Or with Chrom, or with any of the Shepherds. They thundered past them, and threw themselves against the wall of Valmese steel. The Valmese shuddered from the shock of the attack, as spells blazed around them and lances flashed out, puncturing the ranks.

Robin glimpsed Pheros pushing her horse forward to close with Cervantes. She was already bleeding from a sword strike, and an arrow hung in her ribs. Her spells easily flew off of her finger tips however, glimmering bright as her blood.

 _"I will chose how I die."_

Robin distantly remembered her words. And how Pheros had stared at Chrom's mark and his changes.

Chrom had halted as well, staring as Pheros locked with Cervantes. She drew up one last spell tome, the symbol brilliant; fire leapt from the pages, hungry and crackling.

"Wh-what is she-?" Robin squinted against the glare of the flames. Chrom had stopped short, a curse jolting its way out of his lips.

The flesh on the two generals acted as kindling as the flames swept over them. The two commanders fell as the spell enveloped them both... but with it, the way was left open.

She saw Walhart, staring at the gap in the lines like it was a personal insult. And Excellus… the flutter of robes drew her eye, a signal flag that he'd elected to retreat into the fortress.

"W-we have to move..." Robin forced herself to say. "I don't... I don't know what motivated her. Maybe she thinks you ARE anointed by Naga after all, or was repaying the debt." Or she couldn't determine who to side with after all, and knew her life was forfeit either way. Robin didn't want to dwell upon it.

Beyond the lines, she saw Walhart retreating into the castle with the last of his guard.

"Quick! Before the gates close!" She urged Chrom on, and they plunged in through the gap of soldiers. She knew that Cordelia was riding hard behind them, as was Stahl. Virion had found his way to their side, and Panne was rushing alongside next to him.

Together, their last remnants made it into the castle, where she knew Walhart would wait to make his last stand. And, she knew... someone else would be there as well. Excellus' laugh echoed in her ears, and Robin narrowed her eyes.

One way or another, they'd finish this.

"Say'ri! Watch our backs and hold the line!" She shouted to the woman beyond them. Say'ri raised her sword in acknowledgment, before leading her men in a charge through the remaining ranks.

Robin took a steadying breath, felt Chrom do the same next to her... but their changes didn't ebb. Robin knew why as well; not with an enemy of theirs left unfought. Their blood wouldn't subside until then.

She looked down at the scales glimmering as they rushed in past the walls. The forces in the courtyard had all withdrawn to make a last stand in the castle itself...

"Mother!" A voice turned her head, and she saw Lucina and Morgan both running to them-

Saw the scales glittering off Lucina's form. The last of her rage evaporated when she saw the splashes of blue, and how Lucina was a near mirror of herself and Chrom.

"Gods-"

"W-we're alright. We aren't lost yet." But she could see concentration marring Lucina's features. Licks of flame were flickering along her shoulders, and an aura of blue continued to pulse so hard it almost hurt to look at her. Morgan was in the same state, one eye half shut... and she saw how his eyes had gone to slits, even if his flesh was unchanged.

"No... but we need to win this battle, and quickly." Chrom spoke for her as he looked at them. His hand reached out, the scales fading on his palm for a moment as he touched Lucina's shoulder.

"I won't tell you to stay back." Robin found herself saying.

' _If they're anything like us… the Brands will work the same for them. They won't be allowed rest until this is finished.'_

"Good. Because Morgan and I are going to help you win this." The fire and iron was back in Lucina's voice. "Don't even think of trying this without us."

Morgan gave a nod, his smile looking a touched strained… but he still managed to look Robin in the eye.

"Besides… you've spent most of this campaign worrying about us. Why not let us show how far we've come, so you can focus on other things?"

She also couldn't argue with that; neither could Chrom. He gave a helpless, dry chuckle and nodded, turning to face the yawning mouth of the fortress.

Together, they led the charge inside. The shadows of the interior engulfed them... but the bright lights shining off her family kept the worst of the darkness back. They blazed into the interior, cutting a way with their light.

-o-o-o-

His body still burned, his skin barely held together. Duran forced himself forward through a violet tinged miasma, balling his hands into fists. The shadows had swept over him once he'd agreed to the pact, and snatched away the sensation of broken bones and entangled tree branches. Instead he'd floated, wounds mending. For how long, he didn't know… but finally, his feet were set on the ground.

And his blood burned, driving his feet to move.

The voice from before had gone silent. But he could feel a red light shining on his back, sealing up the last of his wounds. Smoke bled off the remaining gashes, the flesh closing up. When the last cut sealed, the miasma thinned.

" _ **You have your mission. Go and fulfill it."**_

The voice parted with one last whisper, taking the smoke and mist with it.

Duran blinked, eyes taking in his new surroundings. A stone passage surrounded him, the walls turning into a tall, arched ceiling. Red carpet cushioned his steps, stretching down the entire passage. No light came in, windows shuttered or absent entirely; only the wane glow from candles remained.

He'd walked this hallway before, Duran knew.

' _Walhart's stronghold.'_

The passage he walked was still and deserted… but at end of the hallway came an echo. The ring of steel, shouts, and pained shrieks and groans. The noises were more homelike to him than anything he'd encountered on this continent, and urged Duran forward.

Duran narrowed his eyes, to better focus on the sounds. He kept his steps light, moving almost like a shadow through the stone passages. His lips parted, showing his teeth and shaping into a grin. He sped his steps a little more, hardly able to wait for what lay in front of him.

Battle. Blood. And a promise from that dark voice, of victory for him and him alone.


	53. Kings and Conquerors

**Chapter 53: Kings And Conquerors**

Walhart tore off the ragged sections of his armor, one step at a time. His steps guided him into the center of the fortress, and the lonely throne room waiting for him. A snarl twisted his face, but only for a breath. The next shed the damaged armor, and dulled the wounds from claws and swords.

 _'…Not bad.'_ He grudgingly allowed. So the boy-prince could back up his words with steel. Walhart tossed his own sword aside, letting it clatter against the stones.

He wouldn't be calling on that blade. Instead Walhart focused on the throne in the center of the room. An axe propped against the arm of the throne, glimmering in the scant sunlight that entered through the dome.

Walhart closed a hand around it, testing the heft of the axe. It fit easily in his hand, and rested across his knees as he took his seat on the throne.

And waited.

One of them would meet their end in this room. Walhart had no intentions of it being him, either. Not yet. The reckoning was yet to come in truth for him; the fell shadow that loomed in the future. And the beast that would try to consume all, that he would stand against.

The steel of his gloves clinked, where his fingers squeezed at the haft of his weapon. Already anticipating a fight that had yet to come.

It had to be him. No Risen on his ranks, no defects, and no dragon blooded whelp of an Exalt would change that.

"A strategic retreat I see! Well enough, well enough," Walhart raised his eyes at that voice. So the spider had made it through an army without getting crushed underfoot.

Excellus stepped into the chamber, a false smile on his face. And equally false bravado dripped from his words.

"We've time, conqueror. My men may yet-"

"Which men would those be?" Walhart silenced the idea. "The ones you tried to blackmail into submission, and lost your hold over? Or the revenants still stalking the field outside."

Excellus paled at that.

"You... you knew!?" His eyes settled on the axe, doubtless picking out the edge of it.

"Aye. And I've a mind to separate your head from your shoulders... but I would not waste the sharpness of my axe over your thick neck and overly swelled head." Walhart made a curt gesture, silencing any of Excellus' protests.

"You can face them yourself, and see how well you live or die… both of us will be meeting our fates, here."

-o-o-o-

"It seems a common theme to build castles with ceilings that are as high as possible." Robin noted, staring up at the distant stone arches holding up the roof. "...Not that I'm complaining. It gives us room to maneuver and bring the horses and pegasi in, and we need that."

"The reverse is true." Morgan pointed out, stretching a hand out and gripping Gules in it. The shimmer along his arm drew Robin's eye and shot a few threads of ruby light into the hallway. At the end of it, Robin picked out the last of the guard rallying. "They're not going to let us in easily, and they have just enough room to bring their men into position."

"T'would be my pleasure to clear them aside." Virion spoke up, as the hooves of his horse echoed through the hallway. A sword hung at his side, and he didn't seem ready to bring it into play just yet. But then, he didn't exactly seem to need a melee weapon, given the giant hare between him and the soldiers.

A few others had followed him in. Anna's steps were light as she shifted from foot to foot, sizing up the interior.

"Huh. Not much for decorations, but I'll bet there's still some good treasure lurking about somewhere… which I'll look for AFTER the battle is done, merchant's honor." She held up a hand to show her sincerity, and to stall any talk from Robin. "By the by, a few reports from the field if you've got time to listen? Say'ri is doing the job of holding down the outside front; looks like we have the advantage of man power out there."

"…Meaning all we have to do is settle things here, right?" Chrom kept his voice hushed, perhaps out of respect for how sounds could echo through the halls.

"That's about the long and short of it. I took the liberty of picking up a few more Shepherds to fill out our ranks." Anna waved to the others, stepping back to fall back into the ranks.

"Well, I think the objective is clear enough?" Cherche's wyvern folded her wings in, glancing at the hall with a suspicious light in her eyes. But when the wyvern saw Robin and Chrom, still scaled and standing ready, that seemed to convince her she could step inside without the ceiling falling on her head. "Cut a path for you, and engage the troops so you can deal a killing blow to the serpent's head?"

Robin nodded at that, and Cherche looked satisfied with the plan; perhaps just as well, since it would hopefully end with the liberation of her home.

"We will handle the rank and file." Panne's voice echoed. "See to it that we will not need to fight for long."

"Right..." Chrom murmured. A low tremor built along his shoulders... and for a moment, Robin wondered if his form was blurring.

 _'How long have we been half-changed? How much more can we hold on, even with the Emblem and the gemstones?'_ She glanced down to Argent at the thought... and felt something fraying at the back of her mind as well. Her hand shook, and the claws wouldn't close around the gemstone smoothly.

Lucina stared at the hallway, eyes piercing past the Valmese line. She focused on the target beyond the soldiers, nothing else. And there was still a glow in her eyes; next to all of them, bristling with scales and flickers of light, Morgan looked almost threadbare.

But just as determined.

"Ready whenever you all are." Was all he said, flexing his fingers. Lucina moved next to Robin, waiting for the signal.

It came from the thrum of Virion's bowstring, signaling the start of the battle.

Virion fired arrows and Panne met the front line. Gregor and Libra helped anchor the taguel's flanks, and the spears of the Valmese couldn't seem to so much as graze Donnel. Overhead, Cordelia and Cherche swooped at targets at horseback height.

With that much chaos it was the easiest thing to vault over the heads of the Valmese. Robin ran forward, tightening her grip on Lucina's arm. Her daughter easily kept the pace, while Morgan did the same with Chrom. The stifled air of the hallway filled her wings as Robin threw herself into the air.

Maneuvering was difficult. At least with four of them in the air. And a part of her wanting to fly higher, to tear through the stones of the castle and find the open sky beyond-

 _'Focus! You just need to clear the ranks and land!'_

An arrow tried to find its mark in her flesh, but Robin twisted out of the way easily. She folded her wings around Lucina, shielding her from the strikes. Robin fixed her eyes on the floor, telling every muscle in her body to aim for _that-_

They both made a rough landing onto the hallway floor, the hard stones knocking breath from their lungs.

"Still in one piece?" She managed, and Lucina nodded. Robin frowned over the shaking settling over her daughter. Lucina's hand traced back towards her throat, where Azure blazed.

 _'That's not-'_ Robin shuddered against another change of her own, trying to boil over the remains of her skin.

"We need to get to Walhart, and quickly-" She tried to instruct. But something tugged on the edges of her hearing. A familiar voice.

 _'I see this has all touched a nerve on you. A particularly raw one at that!'_ Excellus' voice mocked, shooting red into her vision. Reminding her that she still needed to settle matters with him.

Her ears twitched, her hearing sharpening, and telling her that Excellus was just ahead of them.

There was just the matter of several reserve soldiers spilling from the halls and rushing towards them.

-o-o-o-

"AVERSA!" Excellus' voice rang out through the hallway. Robin tore through a soldier as she tried to find the source of it; she twitched around as more words echoed off the stones.

"I did what you said... most what you said at least! Haven't I earned a reward for my services!?" Her eyes found a doorway, branching off from the hall, and a strange shrouded purple light coming out of it.

Almost an echo of what coated her own skin, still glowing in the shadowed passages.

Robin bolted towards the source, her eyes narrowed. She barely noticed the trembling in her own hands, focused only on the target ahead of her.

"Yet for all your valued skills, you are still resorting to begging... ah, don't sulk so much. It doesn't become you. We still have a use for you, I suppose..."

 _'That voice… is that Aversa?'_

Robin put on speed, springing for the doorway.

A room humming with magic greeted her. When her feet touched the ground, sigils sprang to life in the stonework. They glowed a sullen purple like an old bruise, and seemed to be carved in a language she could almost understand-

 _'I don't care about that!'_ Robin snapped her head up, breaking away from the sight and searching for her target.

She glimpsed Excellus for just a moment; enough for her blood to go hot and her vision red. A mirror was before him, but it didn't hold his reflection; instead there was a shrouded figure on the other side.

"You'll live another day, servant." Came Aversa's voice "You will still have your uses. And it seems you have just enough power on your end to work this spell after all."

The violet coating Robin flared bright, almost seeming to feed the magic in the room. Excellus stared over his shoulder at her, but still flung himself towards the mirror. Instead of the glass splintering, it rippled at his touch like a strange lake.

"Come away from the battle for now," Aversa's voice continued, growing warped from the spell work.

"Don't you DARE-!" Robin spat out.

Getting drawn into the surface of the mirror. The terror melted from Excellus' face, replaced with a grotesque grin.

"Another time, tactician!" He called out before the mirror swallowed him. Robin howled with rage as she just missed him. She dove, trying to cut him down-

Instead she slammed into the mirror. It snapped into a spider's web of broken glass under her shoulder. The shards bit at the unscaled parts of her face. Robin grit her teeth against pain and frustration both. Once again, Excellus slipped through her grasp. Taking all his answers with him.

 _'None of this is over.'_ She glowered at her broken reflection, marred by violet scales and shrouds of purple aura licking along her flesh. _'Not by a long shot.'_

There'd been something to the spell that had spirited Excellus away. Something that made a part of her stir, and seemed to still seep into the stones of this place. If she could just call it up-

 _'I could tear open that portal he used. Track him down and pull the answers out by the throat-'_ Her teeth showed, reflected back by a dozen sharp fanged faces. Robin glared into the shattered mirror, the scarlet flooding the irises of her eyes.

She just had to focus. The spells hummed around her, the bricks of the floor almost shivering underfoot.

 _'I- **almost-'**_ Could almost call and bind the power to her. The red in her eyes was almost like blood, and a haze seeped over her thoughts. Something that fed off the rage clouding her mind.

 ** _'I almost… have you-'_**

"ROBIN!"

A shout from outside yanked her back to the present. It was her husband's voice. And with it was Lucina, and Morgan. All locked in battle. And she'd put her back to them.

Robin yanked her head away. From the mirror and the seductive whispers of the spell work, both. She bit the inside of her lip from the motion, tasting blood.

The sensation yanked her back the rest of the way.

 _'Another time.'_ She promised herself. Not daring to dwell on what almost happened, on whatever it was that almost ensnared her, she dug her claws into her spell tome. Lightning jumped into her skin, spurring her onwards.

Robin turned back to the fight.

-o-o-o-

Robin had vanished, chasing something. Whatever it was blinded her to Lucina's shouts, trying to alert her to the Valmese.

 _'Was this on purpose?'_ Morgan had time to wonder. _'Are they trying to divide us?'_

Chrom stood his ground, not daring to take his eyes off the reinforcements rushing them. The first wave of Valmese were busy with the main Shepherd force… but beyond that line, Morgan's own family needed to stand alone.

Lucina scowled at the troops, but that narrowed gaze did nothing to dim the blaze in her eyes. Even though she'd yet to grow wings, she rushed the troops with blinding speed, carving into them. Morgan chased after her. But his own feet had been replaced with stone; nothing compared to the flash of blue.

Chrom stood apart, soldiers blocking him from Morgan and Lucina's view. Lucina noticed, a slight cry leaking out between her clenched teeth. She turned her attack to a different soldier. Now she was intent on getting to Chrom, instead of punching through the line.

 _'I promised I'd watch her back!'_ Morgan screamed at himself,

He tried to close with her, blinking back the glare of blue light that rose off her limbs. His breath was coming hard now. His lungs and heart both burned, and his limbs were lead. The gap between them only grew.

The only thing he could manage was his spells, and it was feeling more and more like that wasn't enough.

To drive it home, the last spell he cast flickered out in the air, striking his target with only half strength. The Valmese barely even flinched from the attack, and still plunged towards Lucina. He glimpsed his father up ahead, delivering a vicious downward swipe with his transformed hand.

The Valmese tried and failed to swarm him; no matter how they tried to flank him, he spun to meet them. And when the few horseman the Valmese had left thundered into the hall-

There was an answering echo of thunder.

Robin whirled into range time, a blaze of lightning flooding from her hands. The spell tome hung by her side, pages rustling and fluttering. Her scaled hand grazed the cover only for a moment… but the corner of the tome gained a few notches, crackling with static. It was only through the power humming through the book that kept the item intact.

And yet her spell casting wasn't dimmed by the damage. Her magic slashed the Valmese, driving them from Chrom… and forming a slight opening his parents could press through.

 _'If only-'_ he could be like that. Morgan winced as pain went through his shoulder... and Gules burned again against his chest. Only now it didn't feel like the gem was holding him in check, but was reaching out to him, holding something for him to take.

"Keep going!" Lucina called to Chrom and Robin. "I can hold them off! Find Walhart and put an end to this!"

Her strikes were just savage enough to prove that claim; the parallel Falchion danced in her unchanged hand, while her clawed limb was just as nimble.

 _'I want to-'_ Match that. To make it so he and Lucina could stand by their family.

And he finally was feeling a flicker of power, a hint of how to make that happen. It had a strange whisper to it… but just then he wasn't feeling picky. Or in much of a mood to ignore it.

Especially not when a soldier blindsided Lucina, slamming into her side and knocking her off balance. She staggered, dropping her guard, suddenly exposed to a Valmese swordsman.

Morgan focused on his eye, and let pain blaze out from that to match his shoulder. His steps went lighter, even with vertigo leaking through his eye and latching onto his brain. The earth no longer tried to pull him down into it.

Morgan's steps shifted into a dash as he arrowed towards Lucina. The spell tome fell uselessly from his hands, its contents all spent.

But just then, Morgan didn't need it. He felt something crackling through him, blossoming in his heart just as bright and fierce as the gemstone. Before the sword could fall, Morgan stepped in front of it. It bit down into his shoulder as Lucina screamed out something-

But it didn't draw blood. Instead it rattled uselessly against his arm, sparks flying from the edge as a welcoming red glow wrapped around Morgan. The power in the glow lifted his head up so he could stare the attacker in the face.

"Amateur." Morgan growled out, before feeling spell fire arc out from his palms. It slammed into the Valmese, driving them back and opening a path. The remaining soldiers were knocked flat in the blast, or fell to the weapons of the advancing Shepards.

"Morgan..." Lucina whispered out. He turned to the wide eyes of his sister, and his own arm drifted back down. The sleeve of his cloak had been torn open, exposing the wine colored and silver scales along his arm. Morgan frowned down at the torn fabric.

"Oops. I hope someone can fix that..." He murmured out, and just like that his thoughts slammed back into order. And it dawned on him what he'd just done. He gave Lucina an almost sheepish grin, flexing his new arm.

"Well, it was about time that I caught up to the rest of you, right?" His sister didn't even seem to be aware of her own scales, growing along her arms and tracing across her neck. "Please don't feel bad; I wanted to be at your level, and Mother AND Father's."

Lucina drew out a shaky, taloned hand in response to that. Her motion froze when she caught sight over her own limb, so Morgan stepped forward bringing his shoulder under her grip.

"We're not out of this yet!" He told her, and shifted his focus to where the line had thinned.

"Come on, they can't win this without us."

Lucina gave a shaky nod, before throwing back her head as something moved along her spine. Morgan felt something similar echo through his back and shoulders, and felt something begin to stretch out behind him.

Their feet barely touched the floor as they ran to the last fight, wings stirring the air and pushing them forward.

-o-o-o-

The battle had reached fever pitch, and was drawing closer. Walhart gripped his axe, turning to the entrance of the throne room. He was greeted by a figure in white darting inside.

The boy walked forward into the throne room... and Walhart granted, he looked like a warrior if nothing else. Ribbons of light glowed off his form, covering him from head to toe in a shifting radiance of silver and blue. His eyes were fixed on Walhart, and his hand moved-

Not a hand. Not with those claws growing over it, and the scales replacing mail. Walhart tested the grip of his axe; he'd have a rough time cutting through that much in the way of armor... but he felt equal enough to the challenge.

"Still fighting? I will give you accordance for being a warrior, if nothing else... but your battle will end here, boy."

The blue haired boy paused, staring up at him. His body shook from being caught between forms, and his voice came out halting.

"I... I will fight you, if I must…" His form was clearly willing, wanting to lunge into battle and fight. And yet the prince held fast to his control. "But I ask first for you to reconsider. I've spilled enough blood today. Can't you lay down your sword?"

"To the likes of you? For WHAT exactly, some craven's temporary peace? We both know a greater war is coming. I intend to be ready for it with an army."

"An... an army cobbled together by fear isn't much of one. Look at how they've been splintered already." Chrom gestured to the windows outside. The battle was still raging... but Walhart knew his own forces were steadily losing ground, loathe as he was to admit it.

"All the more reason to cut you down and put an end to this farce of resistance. When your head is on the spikes along with the last of the Chon'sin leaders, the heart will be torn out from the rebels. I will have a unified continent under my grip."

"For what-?" The boy's tactician rasped out as she stumbled forward. She was keeping a hand close to her chest, covering it with the other. A brilliant violet light coated her, pulsing in time to the breaths she took.

"For facing the end of the world. Grima is approaching. I intend to fight her myself." That got the boy's eyes to widen.

"You can't fight against fear with more fear!" He shouted out.

"I shall judge that myself-"

"No." Hissed a new voice, behind his back. "You will not. Nor will you see that battle of yours."

Walhart turned... too slowly, as a sudden lance of pain drove through him. It pierced his armor and flesh both, and he looked down to see two bloody claws poking out from where his ribs were supposed to be. His eyes rolled back as his breathing turned wet and pained, and found himself looking at a different sort of Exalt. Red-stained eyes burned into his own, set in the face of another conqueror.

"So... it is the sword which prevails after all."

"No." His killer growled out. "It is the will of dragons. Take that thought with you, to your grave."

His vision flickered out, and then turned forever to black.

-o-o-o-

Walhart slumped to the floor as Chrom stared on. He didn't recognize the claws tearing their way through the conqueror's chest, soaked in red as they were. Walhart crashed to the floor with a rattle that shook stone and bones equally.

And behind him was a man cloaked in shadow... save for an eerie red glow settled in his eyes. That red gaze settled on Chrom as the man turned and strode forward. Robin stepped forward at the same instant, throwing an arm in front of him as her claws flexed and prepared to fight.

Chrom stared past them, and found himself gazing at the blue in the stranger's hair, finally caught by the pale shafts of light shining through the windows. There was also a familiar glint in the white but tarnished armor he word... and finally Chrom picked out his face.

"It can't be-" he whispered out, while Robin made a choked noise, followed by,

"Just how many times are you going to come back from the dead!?"

"As long as there is still a use for me." Duran answered her, raising his bloody hand. "It's the will of dragons that Walhart falls, and his empire falls with him. All who resist will burn in the flames of the new world, as is their will." Chrom picked out cobalt scales on his father, dark as a moonless night sky. The brand on his throat glowed a sharp blue, while the scar crossing it gave off a sullen red glow. "I've been given one last chance. I don't intend to squander it... and I will see to it you and your family fall. For the sake of ensuring my path."

His gaze was cold in a way that made Chrom's hair stand up on end. And there was a light in his eyes that had never, ever been there before.

"Should I start with the Plegian witch?" His words lashed at Chrom's ears, right as Duran stretched a taloned finger out and pointed at Robin. His wife flinched from the words and gesture both, as the air thickened around her into globs of purple mist. She choked as the air went hard to breathe.

"S-stop it!" Chrom shouted, and reached out to yank her away as the magic flared. Something struck him across the arm and back, and he went to one knee. He fought to find his footing again... but his body didn't listen. It remained frozen in place, in a kneeling position. Duran gave a chuckle at that, pleased over his results.

"That's a more fitting place for you... ah, but I see you are still fighting it, at least in terms of trembling. Is your grasp on your own power finally weakening? I've finally learned how to harness the blessing on our line, as it SHOULD be." The red eyes glimmered as they watched Chrom... and Duran bent to Walhart's corpse, ripping something clean from the man.

Vert glimmered in his bloodstained claws, and the miasma around him thickened, as did the red glow. Violet veined darkness roiled off him in thick ropey tendrils, starting to form into wings. A strange, sick grin twisted Duran's features.

"Get away from him." Choked out a voice. Robin was climbing back to her feet. "Away from him, away from my family. You won't hurt any of them!"

"And YOU are going to stand in my way?" Chrom fought against the paralysis gripping him, but he couldn't move, couldn't even lift a hand to hold Robin back. She staggered towards him, her own balance beginning to give out... but she also raised her head up in defiance, glaring at Duran.

Duran glared right back at her, and how she wouldn't stick to her knees.

"Then I'll start with cleansing you from the line. It's more than you deserve." As he spat the words out, the torches around them flared to life. But instead of rising to the ceiling, the flames ran down the walls like a strange, oily and burning tide. They swept across the floor, converging on where Robin stood.

She howled in response as she wrenched herself all the way up. Her wings fanned out and shoved against the ground, pushing her upward. She was in the air for only a second, before she dropped out of it feet first as she fell towards Duran.

He didn't hold still, coiling up like a cat as his eyes flashed with rage and he showed his teeth. The mist around Duran solidified into solid wings, and with a push of them he leapt up to meet her. They crashed together in the air, flashes of talons tearing at each other.

Both of their claws tried to seek out the face or throat of the other, each time barely turned by a fast dodge or clashing off scales. Robin ducked her head and tried to snap her teeth at Duran's throat. Duran struck at her eyes, only to miss when she ducked her head. They collapsed to the floor, neither of their wings capable of keeping the roiling forms aloft. Robin crashed into the ground first, so hard that Chrom gasped out over the pain she must have been feeling-

But instead of letting the pain leave her motionless, she gathered her legs up underneath Duran and shoved them hard into his stomach. She threw him backwards, closer to where Chrom knelt. But then she couldn't find her feet, gasping for breath as the pain caught up with her. Duran flexed his claws, ready to leap across the distance and tear her throat out.

"You will not harm her!" Lucina's voice rang out, and she plunged forward. She slashed at Duran as she passed; not enough to hurt him, especially not with how the mad Exalt twisted aside just in time. Instead he cut into her, leaving Lucina stumbling, tripping, and then sliding along the floor as a cut opened up along her side. Her face was a mask of pain as she came to a stop against Robin, leaving a trail of red smeared along the ground where she rolled.

"Is that the most your strength can do?" Duran sneered.

But Lucina glanced up for just a moment, and a strange smile crossed her face.

Chrom and Duran both yanked their heads up at the same time to see a robed figure flying above, fire at his fingers and dark wings spread out to either side as he charged the spell.

Morgan sent the fire slamming down into Duran, as the man screamed in agony. The flames enveloped him completely, and Morgan slipped free of the air. He came to rest at Lucina and Robin's side, hands outstretched to both of them.

Chrom let his breath out when he saw that the cut in Lucina's side was healing, the scales knitting the flesh together. She wasn't going to bleed out after all. They were going to be alright-

A roar shuddered out of the flames, a melding of bestial howl and a man's anguished scream. The flames evaporated as something massive burst out of them, wings fanning the air and blowing hair back from everyone's faces. On the next wing stroke the pennants in the court room were torn free from their wall bindings.

 _'No-'_

It couldn't be happening, it couldn't be happening again-

Another roar threatened to shake the throne room apart.

But there it was. A monster loomed over his family, hissing anger that promised a long screaming death for all of them. And he could do NOTHING as he watched. The crimson light blazed in the dragons eyes again, and the flecks and cuts in the beast's head made it look for a moment like it possessed six lights of eyes instead of two.

Not again. He couldn't stand by and watch it happen again, vision or not to his family.

Chrom shoved against the bindings of the spell as he watched. And-

And the aura around him sparked in response. Chrom let it grow; he couldn't let them fight alone.

 _'No matter what it takes. LET ME FIGHT.'_ He stared down at the Emblem... and then ripped it aside. The shield rang against the floor, impossibly loud. Even the dragon paused.

With the shield cast aside, the weight vanished from his body. Power surged through him, no longer held in check by anything.

Chrom glared up at his father, stepping forward. Flames sprouted up along his feet where he walked, leaving burning footprints in the red rugs. The fire swept up him, silver and blue as his form melted underneath it.

Before the dragon could do more than bare teeth at him, Chrom tore forward with a screaming roar all of his own.


	54. Blood Against Blood

**Chapter 54: Blood Against Blood**

"We may yet see this won." Say'ri rasped out. She crouched by Frederick's side and supported his shoulder, careful to keep her hands away from where Maribelle was treating his wounds. Nearby Sumia hovered, half like a worried dove watching over her mate, half like a hawk ready to claw someone's eyes out if they breathed at him wrong.

It served well enough as a reminder for Say'ri to keep her guard up. She scanned the remains of the battle field; broken banners and bodies littered the grass, but the clash of swords had gone quiet. The revenants were silenced as well, hacked to pieces and pushed back into whatever graves they'd crawled out of.

Say'ri turned her head from the battlefield, focusing on the fortress beyond. The gates had swallowed the Shepherds, and the stone walls shielded whatever was happening inside.

"I think-" she started to say, but never got to finish her idea.

Their only warning was a hissing sound; one that tore the air in two. Frederick yanked himself up, flinching from both the effort and the sound. Maribelle's scolding was lost in a strange rumble and groan, like the stones of the fortress were breaking apart-

Then the roof of the palace exploded in a gout of flame, throwing tile, brick and masonry all into the air like grains of sand carelessly tossed about. The flames whipped their way into the sky, twisting and crackling and glowing hot enough to melt the remaining rock of the castle.

Say'ri stood transfixed as the rubble flew past her, and cinders bit at her hair and skin. It wasn't just flames rising from the suddenly ruined palace; something else was twisting up out of the white hot heart of the fire. She could make out two figures locked together, their forms black. They lashed at each other with claws, their wings beating at the air as each tried to get above the other.

Two DRAGONS.

A great blue and black drake pulled itself up, flames sticking to his wings as he rowed for height. He kept the smaller dragon just underneath him, snapping whenever it tried to fly past him. The other dragon already had red splashed across its face and neck, running down the shimmering white and blue scales.

"It can't be..." Frederick whispered out, eyes fixed on the dragon. "Why did he change?"

Frederick tried to struggle to his feet with a pained noise. Say'ri turned the same time Sumia did, and forced him back to the ground.

"Sir Frederick, what are you talking about? Who is-?"

"That's Chrom." Sumia whispered out, looking between her husband and the dragons. Now the two aerial combatants locked talons and tumbled through the sky. They twisted around, the silver-blue dragon with Chrom's coloring pulling itself up and on top. A second before they crashed back into the palace, they broke apart. Their wings fanned the air, both dragons racing parallel over the ground.

The wind wash from their wings nearly knocked Say'ri over. She sank to her knees, ducking her head. But her eyes couldn't stop staring, locked to the great scaled beasts. The two dragons wheeled about, before rushing the other on thrumming wings. They met in a clash of scales and flames billowing from their jaws.

The red and blue flames washed over their forms, and Say'ri flinched from the impact. And she worried, over the amount of red glowing against Chrom's scales.

And wondered how even a dragon could be expected to fight against such a monster.

-o-o-o-

Heat. Terrible heat that threatened to melt skin from bone and replace it with scales. Robin winced against it, throwing her hood over her head to try and shield her face from the worst of it.

A pair of forms stirred underneath her, where they'd all been knocked prone. Thrown to the side by-

' _There were wings. And roaring beasts, and-'_

Dark shapes, in the heart of an inferno. White hot flames had sprung up and engulfed Chrom when he rushed his father. The two clashed together, and where the flames met a blinding brightness scalded Robin's eyes.

Then everything had turned to fire and the roars of dragons.

Robin blinked up at the ruined roof, her vision clearing. The blue sky was a balm against her eyes. Around them the building smoldered, flame and smoke both reaching for the blue overhead. And above that, two great beasts clashed in the sky.

The night-blue dragon slashed at one with brighter scales-

One she had seen before, years past. But that roar it let out couldn't be forgotten.

"Chrom…" Robin whispered, wincing when the black dragon raked claws across his throat.

"He can't win against Duran. Not like that." Just a glance told her he couldn't match up against the massive dragon, no matter what sort of power was gripping him. And those red eyes burned into her mind as Robin watched them.

Lucina stirred underneath her, unharmed by the explosion. Morgan's face was lit with flames and the glow of Gules, working overtime to keep their shape shifting in check against the fire. Robin drew herself away from them both, and the children tried to find their feet. Lucina still gripped Falchion in her half changed hands-

Robin's gaze caught on the blade, and she stared at it. Wondering.

-o-o-o-

The world turned to a whirlwind of earth and sky, something he and Duran were constantly caught between. He pumped his wings in an attempt to stay aloft, as he tried to remember which way was up-

And why he was in this shape. His thoughts kept trying to stretch thin, and tear his concentration to shreds in the process. But he _had_ to focus; had to think like a person would instead of blindly lashing out. It wasn't easy… and it reminded him of the strangeness in his body. Of how heavy the scales on him were, how his hands were twisted into a shape designed to claw and slash, weighted by claws.

And none of those reminders lent him much in the way of speed.

Something his father was more than happy to exploit.

Duran's claws plunged into his back, too fast for his eyes to follow. The black claws hooked into scales and wing membrane both. With a swipe and wrench Duran sent him spiraling downwards, a spray of blood staining the air.

His shoulders screamed from the rents cut into them, shooting red into his thoughts and vision. Chrom grit his teeth, fighting down a growl that wanted to leak out. He had the feeling it would fray his mind even worse.

Instead, he turned his focus inwards, tensing every muscle in his back, and desperately tried to turn. With a wrenching effort he opened his wings all the way to catch the last bit of air, stopping short from crashing into the ground.

His feet lashed at the air, the webbing between the talons trying to find purchase in the air and push him back up.

From the roar above him, he knew Duran wasn't far off. He rolled to the side as a black shape barreled past him, black claws skimming over nothing. Chrom twisted away, wondering if he could close with Duran again and still expect to live.

But... the black dragon wasn't pursuing him. Instead it angled back towards the palace. Its burning red eyes settled on three figures still among the ruins.

His family.

It didn't matter just then; the ache of his wings, the tears in his sides. None of it did.

Neither did keeping his focus. Rage exploded through him and flooded his mind, and suddenly his body didn't feel ungainly or awkward any longer. Not when every ounce of it was thrumming with energy and focused on one thing.

Making his enemy bleed.

Chrom tore his way through the sky, matching Duran's roar with a furious scream of his own. He dropped out of the sky like a falcon, claws spread wide. Duran was feet from his family, smoke boiling out of his jaws and sticking to his scales.

The other dragon paused, twisting its head towards Chrom's scream. The red eyes widened and flame shot from his jaws. It slammed into Chrom's chest, his scales stretching from the heat or shriveling at the edges. But despite the pain, the fire didn't pierce deeper than the skin. His heart still pounded, matching the frenzy of his pulse.

Duran breathed another shot of flame at him. In answer Chrom snapped his jaws around his father's mouth. His teeth dug in, tasting blood on his tongue and pinpricks of stray flame biting at the roof of his mouth. His claws hit home next, slashing into his father's flanks and back.

' _See how you like this.'_ His thoughts snarled, and the rest of his weight slammed full force into Duran. The other dragon writhed under his talons and teeth, tried to churn his wings, but the force of the impact tore him from the air.

Air whistled past their horns, the path of their fall going diagonal. He caught the blurred faces of Robin and his children below, whipping past in just a blink.

A remnant of the castle walls waited for them. Chrom braced himself, while Duran tore his jaws free. He shrieked at Chrom, lashing teeth towards his throat, blind to what they hurtled towards.

The impact stopped Duran's strike short, driving breath and strength from his body. The stone exploded around them, turned to dust from the force of the attack.

Duran took the brunt of the blow, breath driven out in a sharp hiss. His fangs clashed uselessly off the side of Chrom's neck. His wings crumpled, one of them bent in broken angles. A section of his ribs were caved in, the flesh fluttering in ways it wasn't supposed to.

Chrom didn't know whether to go sick or roar in triumph over the sight. His opponent was felled, and he was triumphant. He-

A claw caught Chrom across the jaw, drawing blood and making his vision go red from rage. Something still moved through Duran. Still kept him breathing and fighting when by all rights he should have laid down and died.

Heat built in Chrom's chest, scalding his lungs and heart. A breath rattled through his throat, growing in heat until it ripped its way out of him. The blast of fire caught Duran full across the face, forcing the dragon to turn its head and expose its neck. Chrom lashed out with his claws, tearing at the scales. Under his claws the flesh peeled away from the onslaught of fire and talons. He opened rents along the throat, but still couldn't reach the killing blow.

Each strike made a little more rage settle into his brain. Made his vision narrow that little bit more.

' _Nothing else matters.'_ The thought hissed through his brain. Only the fight, and the chance to burn this blight off of the world.

-o-o-o-

Lucina spared a moment for self loathing.

Just a moment, but enough to scold her limbs for locking up, her heart for faltering.

It wasn't Grima she was facing. No matter what those scarlet eyes reminded her of, or the night blackened scales. Robin kept herself between Lucina and the fight, for all the good Robin's own half-human frame would do against such beasts.

' _Stop it. Don't think like that. You MUST find a way to win this.'_ She snapped at herself, and found her way to her feet. A grip tightened on her unscaled wrist, and Lucina looked over to see Morgan do the same. His palm sweat, his fingers shivering even worse than hers, eyes locked on the thing Duran had become.

"That's… that looks like-"

Duran writhed against the stones, fangs clashing in the air. Chrom turned his head aside, dodging another blow that would've taken his throat. Yet he wouldn't break from the beast. A mad glow seemed to be settling into Chrom's eyes, one that made Lucian's stomach roil.

"I-I know." Lucina tried and failed to keep her voice steady. She swallowed and tried again. "…Did he strike a bargain with Grima somehow? He said something like that, getting power from dragons-"

And she could think of nothing else that would grant such powers. Robin turned back at Lucina's words, and there was a desperate look in her eyes. She was _trying_ to make a plan, Lucina knew. Though just then, all Robin's eyes could do was rest on the blade in her clawed hand. Lucina followed her gaze-

And she swore that in the smoldering ruins, the blade gleamed sharper than before. The teardrop shape was still worked into the blade thanks to Tiki-

And she swore there was a pinprick of blue light, gathering in the blade.

Naga's time spell had whispered something about that, once. When she first cast herself into the spell portal, hearing the scream of a dragon behind her and spurring her on.

' _Trust your blade; it will light the way at each cross road of fate. Use it to carve a new path, and protect those dear to you.'_

It was a blade that could slay dragons. Even in such a state, Lucina was certain that was still the case.

"I-I think I know what it is you're thinking." She told Robin. "And if you have a plan to get me close, I'm ready to try."

-o-o-o-

Morgan stumbled after his mother and sister. There'd been a rushed and whispered conference that he only caught a few words of. Panic wanted to sink into his brain with each shriek from the black dragon. But his feet still knew how to move, yanking forward on reflex when he saw Robin and Lucina charge. With each step his shoulders and back ached, further blurring his focus.

Who knew that a first flight could take so much out of someone.

' _Come on, keep up!'_ He urged. The limbs growing out of his back gave an experimental flex… and his back threatened to bunch up and send him slamming face first into the ruined floor.

' _So flying is out for now. Ok, ok, but what else can you do-?'_ There had to be _something._ The way that dragon screamed, the fight was far from over-

And he didn't want to look too closely at the two creatures fighting. One of them looked too similar to the thing that lingered in his nightmares. The other… it was hard to believe that was his father, beneath the scales and fangs.

Was it just his imagination, or were the strikes the two dragons traded becoming more and more savage?

Maybe it wasn't just him; Lucina stopped her charge, freezing when the blackened dragon scored a hit along Chrom's crest and forehead. The silver and blue scales turned red, and Chrom dropped his head as blood flowed over those burning blue eyes.

Duran slammed his tail and back legs into Chrom's side, pitching him over. The silver blue scales screamed from the friction against the stonework. Each one was like a tiny flint, scattering sparks as Chrom slid across the floor.

The dark dragon coiled up, ready to pounce on Chrom's prone form. Robin and Lucina were forced to scatter to the sides, breaking off their attack-

' _Not so fast.'_ Morgan narrowed his eyes on Duran. His sister had gone toe to toe with him, once before. He could swallow his own fear and do the same. Morgan drifted his hand back down to the spell book at his side, trying to dim the panic coiling about in the back of his brain… and focus on something else.

That faint hum of power was still with him, barely dimmed from all the battles in Valm since the first landfall. Just waiting for him to draw on it again, and turn into a spark. Morgan scowled at Duran, watching the dragon take a deep breath and prepare to light the air with fire-

Morgan snapped his fingers, his clawed hand tearing open the book pages and letting the spell script flow off the text. The air around Duran was already charged with magic, and caught Morgan's spell like tallow. The air turned to a gout of flame, lashing out faster than even his mother's lightning. An explosion rocked the air, shaking a few more bricks free from the ruined walls. Duran shrieked, the scales on the side of his face withering or shredded completely from the flare of magic.

The dragon's head flinched down, and the flames dried in his jaws. Lucina took a shaky step towards her target.

"Go for it! You've got your opening!" Morgan shouted out, dropping the spell book before he was tempted to cast another spell.

' _There's PLENTY of things on fire already, after all.'_

Lucina jolted forward at his words, closing with Duran. With the dragon holding its head close to the ground, her target was in easy range; just a lunge and a leap away, which Lucina easily made.

The gouges Chrom had torn into the neck were like a red tinged beacon, an easy target for Lucina's blade.

Falchion caught in the dragon's wound, and the creature thrashed hard enough to level another remnant of wall. Lucina clung onto the sword, refusing to get thrown and planting her feet in the dragon's neck. Duran writhed under the blade, lashing his head back and forth to keep Lucina from driving Falchion any deeper-

His neck crashed against a ruined wall, and Lucina's breath left in a pained gasp. Her hands fell from the blade, leaving it wedged in his neck as she fell to the ground.

Morgan looked up to see the last bit of humanity vanish from those crimson eyes, leaving behind a monster in its place. One that would gladly tear them all to pieces, and then burn the battle ground until only ash remained.

He couldn't let that happen.

…Neither could Chrom. He'd picked himself back up and cleared the blood from his eyes. He charged forward, crashing into Duran and meeting him chest to chest. The two dragons snapped and lashed, trying to get the other to fold.

The dragon's wings fluttered, scattering blue streaked shadows over the ruined stonework. Each lash of the wings, and the partition between wane sunlight and sky-tinted shadows changed.

Chrom's wings gave another churn-

And something glimmered amidst the stones.

Morgan froze in his tracks, eyes searching for that brief shimmer of light.

"Wasn't that-?" He forced himself to steady his breath. Not to panic or rush things, no matter the screams and roars that cut at his ears. He just had to approach this like Mother, consider and analyze everything he could-

Morgan tilted his head just slightly, and the glimmer sprung back to life. His eyes blinked against the glare of the gold, before focusing a broad shape settled on the floor.

"The Emblem!"

Morgan found his way next to it, and his hands snatched it up, heedless of how hot the metal was. The dragon fire had blasted it… but Gules still burned at his neck, making it no more uncomfortable than sticking his hands in hot water.

He had it in his hands… now what was he supposed to do?

A snapping sound made him wince; it sounded uncomfortably like breaking bones, and the wet tearing noises that followed didn't help with keeping his own stomach in line.

Duran twisted free from Chrom's charge, and his wings beat at the air… heedless of how one of his wings was a broken, bloody mess. It still churned the air… and impossibly still found traction, a touch of magic in the shed blood giving Duran height.

And that was taking him well beyond Morgan's spell casting range.

Rage gave Duran's eyes an extra glare of red, and when he opened his mouth scarlet flames glowed in the back of his throat. The madness in his eyes showed that he was ready to bathe the ruins in dragon fire.

Chrom lunged upwards in answer, barely turning his head as he took the blast of fire-

And Morgan dreaded the blaze in his eyes; it was only a shade lesser than the mad glow that lurked in Duran's gaze. But still he fought to close with Duran again.

' _Oh gods.'_ Morgan swallowed, throat gone dry. _'He doesn't care if he lives or dies now… just that he finishes his enemy.'_

The Emblem pulsed in his hands as the dragons wrenched themselves skyward; he swore something in the shield was reaching out to Chrom. Morgan clutched the Emblem close, his own scales shrinking from his hands.

' _This could help Father… But how can it reach him-?'_

The wash from the wings stirred a hot breeze, and the winds tangled on a dark cloak. Morgan's eyes snapped to where Robin stood, the feathers on her wings still bristling as she stared up.

"MOTHER!" His voice cracked with how dry his throat had gone, but Robin still heard. She turned to him, and froze when she made out the Emblem.

Her reflexes were still sharp enough when he threw it to her, however. The shield sliced through the fires, landing easily in her palms. And while she winced from the heat, her eyes had taken on a sharp focus.

She crouched for one second. And then lunged skywards as well, following Chrom.

-o-o-o-

His thoughts were going murky, wispy and hard to focus at the edges. The only thing he was certain of was the wind under his wings, and the need to make the other dragon _stop._ Stop fighting, stop _breathing_.

"-rom!" A faint voice reached him, fighting to be heard over the song of the wind.

"-hrom!" It came again, in a more familiar voice, and the stirring of wings in the air. "Chrom, come on! Don't get lost to this!"

A glimmer of something golden caught his eyes.

The hissing from his opponent went dim. As did the pounding of blood in his head. Even the shriek of the wind turned into little more than a whisper.

He turned his head.

Robin's wings were a fragment compared to his. But still she flew on them, clawed her way up through the air. Her eyes glowed red with their own fire, and stayed fixed on him. And in her hands-

' _That's the Emblem.'_

Chrom managed, his thoughts lurching back into a human shape.

Duran shrieked at him, fangs drawing blood from the side of Chrom's face. Pain flared in a long stripe… but he didn't retaliate. Didn't sink back into the same frenzy as what gripped his father.

Instead he waited, and _looked._

Falchion was still caught in the dragon's throat, half driven in. A single gleaming claw of metal. Chrom stared at it, a faint idea catching alight.

"Catch!" Robin cried out, and flung the shield to him. He untangled from Duran, catching the Emblem in his claws. At the contact, his head cleared completely. And a plan took shape.

He folded his wings and let himself fall. The dragon screeched in rage as he retreated, giving chase to him. Chrom let gravity take over, guiding him all the way down as his claws tightened around the Emblem. The magic spread over him, soothing his wounds and the fire raging through him. His form faded in and out, until he found himself falling freely through the skies... as himself. No scales, no claws or wings.

Robin mirrored his fall, a few feathers yanked loose and drifting in the sky. But still she plunged, eyes wide as the dragon shrieked behind them but keeping her gaze fixed to him. She held a hand out to him, and with shaking fingers he took it.

"Hurry, we've got to-!" She was trying to get him out of the path and the fall. To retreat.

And there was no way he could afford to do that. Maybe he'd lost the dragon shape, but his blood still burned. His father- his _enemy_ still drew breath. And Chrom wouldn't retreat from him again.

"Think you've got enough strength to give me a shove in the right direction?" He shouted, a shriek from Duran trying to steal the last of his words. The dragon surged after them, heedless of the fall or how hard the ground looked.

"A shove-?" Robin stared at him. The wind whistled in their ears and blew her hair aside, a warning at how little time they had left to finish this.

"Or a throw!" Chrom yelped out, only breathing when his words and idea clicked into place. He saw it in how her eyes darted back to Duran, coiling his neck so he could snap it back out and catch them in his teeth. His blood almost black, but forming an efficient target. Robin took it all in, and managed a nod. He slid his hand into hers, fingers shivering as they clutched at her palm.

All while the earth sped closer. Chrom forced himself to take a deep breath, slipping an arm into the straps of the Emblem.

"Now!" Robin's wings snapped out, the wind shrieking through the black feathers and yanking a few more pinions loose. She spun in the air like a dancer, dragging him along in her grip. Duran couldn't veer out of the way, and she flung Chrom straight at him, before flitting out of the way.

Duran's bloody gaze focused only on Chrom, ignoring the blur that was Robin. Instead the draconic head snapped out like a serpent making a strike. Trying to close its jaws around Chrom.

Something in him screamed to meet that strike and lash back, just like before. Not to flinch or shrink away-

' _To fight like a dragon would… or like my father WANTS me to fight.'_ Chrom realized with a lurch. He twisted in the air, his cape flaring around him. Duran's jaws snapped at empty air-

And a shredding sound tore at Chrom's ears. He glanced back to see the ragged remains of his cape snapping against his back. The rest of the white fabric was caught in Duran's teeth and staining red.

He could make out Lucina and Morgan beyond the fragments of cloth, scrambling out of the way.

' _Better hurry up.'_ He snapped a hand out, fingers scrapping along the scales of Duran's neck before they crashed into something hard. Cold metal bit at his skin, and a sword hilt filled his fingers.

He snapped a hand around Falchion, hanging on for life and limb. Duran's eyes still followed him, and the dragon tried to twist its head around. Trying to crush him between the jaws.

Chrom only glared back, and braced as the ground filled his vision. The dragon crashed into the ruins, his shoulder pressing a crater into the floor with a last crunch of bone. The impact rattled his teeth, burned through his legs where they braced against the dragon's neck… but still he held on. He let his weight and the momentum press down on Falchion, driving the sword clean through Duran's neck.

The dragon screamed a long howl, head thrown back. Fire blazed all around its jaws, coursing through its throat with such an intensity that Chrom knew it was burning the remains of his father inside and out.

Chrom tightened his hand around the Emblem, holding it up as dragon flame lashed out of the creature's mouth and tried to envelope them. It shot out from either side of the Emblem, almost burning his skin and singing his hair. Chrom hid behind the Emblem and kept a desperate grip on Falchion.

At last, the flame died. Looking up, he saw the dragon slump to the ground. The fire at last fading from its throat as its last breath rattled out.

' _Dead.'_ The red leaked out of its eyes like blood from a mortal wound. It didn't revert back to his father's form, nor burn. Instead, Chrom's foot sank into the flesh as it crackled and crumbled. The night blue scales turned to gray, going dry and fragile. Chrom staggered away from the corpse, falling flat on the stones as the dragon turned to a pile of ash. Falchion fell away with him, ringing on the ground.

"Chrom...?" Robin whispered his name. He blinked his eyes free of smoke and soot, turning to see her leaning over him. Her hand pressed to his back, and she held him half up from where he'd fallen. Her other clasped around his-

His hands. He had to remember that he was back in human form, as was she. Only a few fragments of feathers danced in the air around them.

"I'm beginning to understand why Aunt Lissa is so impatient with you. You've a habit of throwing yourself into peril at a moment's notice." Lucina's voice reached his ears, and Chrom pulled himself up to look at her. She knelt next to Robin, holding his other hand.

She didn't so much as glance at Falchion, her eyes only relieved that both her parents were still drawing breath. Morgan stood a little ways away, gathering his breath back.

"We... we finished it? We won?" Chrom finally rasped out.

"YOU were the one who landed the killing blow." Robin answered him. "Though through no small amount of help from everyone else. But... yes. Duran is gone."

And he took plenty of answers with him, Chrom knew. A shiver worked through him, as he turned to the pile of ash where a dragon once was. It was a gray pile, motes of the stuff getting carried away by the wind. The only sliver of color that remained was a faint green light, half buried underneath the soot.

' _That… that's a gemstone. No wonder he'd managed to tap so much power.'_

At least they were all alive. The shaking in his arms and the hard breaths from his family were all testament to that. And just then, gathering his wits and humanity back, that was all Chrom could ask for.


	55. Embers

**Chapter 55: Embers**

 _A dark room smothered Chrom's senses. The air was stagnant, and a thick miasma seemed to coat his limbs and shroud the ruins he'd found himself in. He didn't question where he was, or how he'd found himself there-_

 _Only that someone lay in his arms._

 _Robin's breath shuddered in and out, her sides pressing at his arms where he cradled her close. Her robe's hood covered much of her face, but there was no missing the way her teeth grit together in pain. Or the way she thrashed, like something gripped her body in a terrible fever._

" _What's wrong?" His own voice came out in a whisper, barely audible over the whimpering noise Robin made._

" _W-we won," he tried to assure her; a sense of victory was still flush in his blood. Whatever had just happened, he was certain that they were victorious._

 _So why did unease grip him by the throat, and send a shudder into his fingers? His hands trembled when he reached out, tugging the hood free from Robin's face._

" _Hey-" He tried to get her to look at his face, to realize he was still there for her. "Hey, look-"_

 _His voice cut out when Robin lifted her head. Baleful red eyes glared into his-_

 _And a lance of pain shot into his side._

Chrom opened his eyes, his breath caught in his throat and silencing his scream. Pain throbbed across his skin and he tried to thrash against it-

But his limbs were heavy with sleep and an odd weight on the chest, which stopped his struggles short. As did the memory of Lissa binding his wounds and healing the worst of them up, only a few days prior. All he had were the echoes of injuries against Duran. And what had plagued his memory was little more than a nightmare.

' _A- A dream. It was only a dream…'_ He told himself, looking around the chamber he found himself in.

Their room was still, a light breeze whistling outside the windows. They'd moved to a different castle hugging the coast, one that hadn't been half demolished by rampaging dragons.

Chrom took it all in, while his hands drifted down to his ribs. The skin there remained intact, and even his wounds from the last battle were well on their way to healing.

 _'So why do I keep having the same vague nightmare?'_ And once again it felt like the details were always just out of his grasp. His shoulder ached for a moment, and Chrom glanced over at it to see that the Brand emitted a faint blue glow, casting a soft light across the sheets.

And the same light picked out details on Robin's face. She lay across his chest, her muscles all twitching. Chrom watched her, wondering what she was dreaming about-

From the way her shakes became worse, and her face twisted into a scowl it didn't seem like anything good. The murmur coming from her throat didn't do anything to convince him that her sleep was peaceful.

"No-" she choked out. Chrom reached a hand up to trace her bangs out of her face, hoping the touch would steady her. Instead she blurted out "CHROM!"

Her eyes flew open, and she panted for breath as she stared up at him. Her eyes were wide and desperate, still haunted by something as she stared at his face. She stayed frozen where she was, drawing in shuddering breaths.

"Robin? It's ok-" He started to say, reaching a hand out to her. Instead of contact, his wife jerked away from him with a strangled sound. She tried to scramble away from him, but only succeeded in getting tangled up in the bed sheets and almost falling off the edge of the mattress. Chrom snaked his hand out and caught her by the shoulder, pulling her back.

"Hey! Calm down. Whatever it was, it was just a dream." He found his voice growing softer with each word, as though he was trying to assure both of them of the fact. To his disgust, Chrom saw that there were still tremors moving along his arm.

But his words, hushed as they were, pushed a little sense into Robin. She gave him a startled blink, shedding a little of that panicked look.

"Breathe," he reminded her, slowly tracing his hand from her shoulder to her neck, cupping her face. "Just remember where you are."

"In our bedchamber, late at night. And… I-I had a nightmare, again..." the words finally came out of Robin, tinged with disgust over herself.

"As did I. For what it's worth, this is still much better than bashing your face into mine." That got a snort out of her, but her body still trembled, and her breath still shuddered in and out. Robin's hand traced its way across the sheets, tugging the blankets free from Chrom's side. He noticed a low purple glow attached to her own hand, before her fingers carefully stretched out and touched his side.

Right where his own dream had pushed pain into. Chrom stared down at where her fingers touched his ribs, as Robin drew her hand away.

"...Can I take a guess?" Chrom asked. The contact pushed a flicker of memory from his own dream back to his thoughts. "Was there… a ruin in your dream? Something almost like that vision Naga showed us?"

"Yes..." Robin whispered out, eyes going up to him. They only had a sliver of moonlight to illuminate the bed chamber, but he couldn't miss the amount of white in her eyes. And they were close enough that he could hear her breath flutter. When he slid a hand over her chest, her heart was beating like a terrified bird in a cage.

"It's alright." He tried to slow her breathing by keeping his own words low and measured. At the very least it made her still, and she leaned in closer to listen to him. "There's nothing much left to worry about. We thwarted everything."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"It's just... we've stopped Walhart, haven't we? And we survived. No one betrayed us, even Yen'fay was true in his own way. Valm is an ally to Ylisse now, instead of a threat." Chrom leaned back against the pillows as he spoke, drawing Robin close with him. She eased herself down with the motion, curling against him.

Perhaps even finding solace in his words.

"…We stopped my father." Chrom whispered out, hating the rasp that tried to grip him by the throat. "Grima stirred and roused him from his grave… and yet we still managed to stop his ambitions, too."

And it didn't matter just then, how much those efforts had cost them. He told himself that again, leaning his head forward and letting Robin's bangs tickle at his nose.

"Doesn't this mean we've stopped Lucina's predicted future? I'm still alive. And so," he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Are you. We didn't lose our lives, or our humanity."

Robin brushed her fingers along his shoulder as he spoke. They traced the line of his scar, while she curled her head into his neck. Her forehead scrunched a little, showing how much she was mulling over his words.

"I hope so." Robin said at last. "I hope we've done what we set out to do."

But she didn't sound all that convinced. And the way she held onto him for the rest of the night showed that she hadn't shed her nightmares. And for his part, despite his attempts to assure her and himself, Chrom held onto her just as tightly.

-o-o-o-

"Exalt, is it true what I've heard? Your war is not done?" Say'ri watched them over the lights of the table. Her head tilted to the side, openly curious.

"Not... not quite finished. We need to reforge Falchion." Chrom admitted. "Both of the blades; I don't feel like a true ruler with one of our heirlooms broken and the other one incomplete and turned to half a blade. And for both of those things, we need all five gems."

His eyes went across the table, to where Vert took up the center. The gemstone had been cleaned of blood and ash both. Under the candle light it gleamed like an emerald fire lay trapped in its heart.

His fingers twitched at his side, wanting to bridge the gap and reach for it… but Robin stopped him short, palm brushing at his wrist.

' _It belonged to Say'ri. Her family may have looked after it for almost as long as it was a Ylisse treasure. We can't just demand it from her… much as a part of me wants to.'_ Chrom reminded himself, feeling his eyebrows crease together. He yanked his head away from Say'ri, before his glare could transfer to her.

"Tiki has offered to go with you as a medium for Naga," Say'ri ventured.

"Aye. With luck we'll be able to locate Sable, the last gem, and have everything restored. If Grima attempts to stir... I want to be ready. Or better yet, prevent the resurrection entirely. The Awakening ritual might help stop that." And they needed Vert as well. Chrom shifted his arm a little so it fell more under Robin's hand. The touch reminded him of the need for patience.

"In that case, I wish you luck. And for what it may be worth... I think I understand what you mean about blades." Her hand drifted down to her own sword, the seven pronged blade resting at her side. "Sometimes, there is a power in an object. A personal importance to the thing."

"Yes..." Was all Chrom said to that. His eyes stayed caught on Vert… and his shoulders tensed when Say'ri rose, resting a hand over the gem. The glow dimmed, and Chrom found his fingers curling on the table cloth.

"You know… we have stories about the stone. That it came over the sea in times long past, with the stories of being hope for another kingdom. And how our line was meant to be stewards for it, until the time was finally right."

"…Would this be the right time, then?" Robin spoke for him, voice still cautious.

"Not yet," Say'ri rose, raising her other hand to stop any protests short. "I can't surrender this heirloom here and now. There _needs_ to be some ceremony for this. Witnesses, and a passing of the torch."

Chrom clicked his mouth shut at that, sinking back into his seat from where he'd leaned forward.

"…And to do right by those who came before you?" Chrom found himself saying. And he wasn't certain if he was talking more about himself or Say'ri. But she still gave a nod. "Well… I'm STILL not much one for formalities, to be frank. At least I still am a long way from having the finesse for them. But I think I can pull myself together enough for this."

-o-o-o-

The ceremony took time to bring together. Frederick and Say'ri had done the bulk of the organizing, deciding it would double as a farewell ceremony for the Shepherds as well.

Robin wondered if all of Valm breathed a little easier at that, knowing those from across the sea wouldn't be staying as conquerors. Getting that extra reassurance they weren't like Walhart, and it seemed the nobles of Valm responded more readily to the invitations.

They gathered in Valm's main harbor, in the aftermath of the battles. The troops all slowly drifted in, as did the dynasts. Between the Ylisseans and the surviving soldiers, the inns were all full up and some even camped out on the castle grounds. Chrom and Robin had almost been ready to offer pitching a tent themselves... but Frederick and Say'ri both wouldn't hear of it. They were all back to being diplomats now instead of soldiers, and needed to present themselves accordingly.

Tonight, Robin was glad of it. Their rooms remained dry, all while a cool mist and light rain gathered outside; salve to finally break the oppressive heat, and begin healing wounds.

Inside the main building, the hall was filled up with the Shepherds and the key dynasts. Robin noticed how an empty space had been given to Pheros, a handful of her own retainers present. The women were afforded space, but not much in the way of eye contact; they didn't seem particularly eager to look at anyone else, and a heavy air hung around them. Much like it did some of the Feroxi troops, their own leader absent.

But even if some of their forces were diminished, the heraldry accounted for all. The blue wolf of Ferox was displayed next to the green tree and silver dragon of Ylisse, newly sewn into fresh cloth. The banners of smaller dynasts ringed the hallway. For the briefest moment, Robin smiled as she glimpsed Rosanne's banner as well, among the Dynasts. Then her focus turned back to the front of the hall, as Say'ri cleared her throat.

Robin straightened her shoulders, reminding herself to stand tall among her family. Morgan and Lucina stood behind her; a spot of prominence and respect for the roles they had played. And by her side was Chrom, looking a touch uncomfortable in finer clothing… but still standing tall.

"Ylisseans." Say'ri began.

"You've fought for our country and our freedom... and you've also sacrificed much." Robin felt a twinge of regret move through her, and saw Lucina and Chrom's hands both drift towards the scabbards at their sides. Lucina's held the half forged Falchion, bound to the scabbard in ceremonial knots. Chrom's was simply empty.

Against her will, Robin's eyes drifted over the crowds, already knowing that there were fewer faces than before. Flavia stood nearby, the blood and grime cleaned from her crimson armor and looking proud enough with how she held her head... but she was also standing alone. Her features were trained into careful attentiveness.

"It is a debt we can never repay... but this gemstone I hope will go some way to expressing our thanks." Say'ri drew Vert out from her robe's pocket. The green gem glowed in the torch and candle light, adding a breath of spring to the room as Chrom took it into his hands. The gemstone shimmered under his touch, and Robin lifted the shield of seals up for Chrom to place Vert in the socket.

"Thank you," the words were a little stilted in Chrom's throat; proof that he'd been practicing the speech Frederick had written up for him. "I am glad to accept one of Ylisse's treasures, and know that I pray for the alliance and good will between our countries to only grow stronger. As we will grow stronger in turn with the gathering of the gemstones."

A low murmur of approval swept through the crowd.

"I will admit... it is a shame you will only remain with us for a few more nights. But I will wish you luck and speed across the ocean... and I will accompany you to make sure of this." THAT caused a stir in the crowd, and Robin and Chrom both gaped at Say'ri. Robin was very certain this wasn't part of the speech, going by the wide eyed look crossing Frederick's face.

"As will I." Tiki spoke as well. "I want to see an end to our troubles, just as much as you do. Lady Say'ri and I have the same goals, and we'll gladly lend our strength to yours."

"I... I..." Chrom stammered... and then threw diplomacy out the window as he walked over and clapped Say'ri on the shoulder and gave her a wide grin. "I'm glad of it. As long as your lands are safe, I'd be proud to have you fighting by our side. Right Robin?"

"...This is unexpected, but I can't bring myself to disagree." Robin sighed out, but felt a strange grin grow across her face as well. She HAD grown fond of the sword princess, all told. "And chances are with you and Tiki accompanying us, we'll have things sorted out in fast order."

"Hear, hear!" Virion's voice rang out over the crowd. To Robin's relief, applause settled through the ranks, signaling an end to the ceremony. The crowd dispersed, and tables were brought in. All of them were packed with foods found around Valm, and even a few Ylissean delicacies courtesy of Donnel and Kellam working with the local chefs.

The solemnity of the moment was mostly broken, traded out for revelry… at least for most of the troops.

There was a strange, somber mood hanging over parts of the celebration. Anywhere there were Feroxi troops or Shepherds, the mood carried a subdued edge. People still raised their glasses for Robin and put on smile, but it felt a little worn. A little strained. Robin simply raised a hand to them, moving without fail towards the edge of the crowds.

' _One more task left, with the ceremony finished.'_ Robin told her feet… and her stomach when she passed a table laden with pastries and it gave a gurgling complaint.

She traced her way forward... and once she certain she was out of sight, Robin ducked into the shadows cast by the pillars. They cloaked her, adding an extra dark tint to her cloak… and making her feel all the more like a thief. Robin scurried down the side passages, out of the walls and into a small, tucked away section of the keep grounds. The temperature dropped as she walked, the sigh of rain greeting her ears.

The rain drummed off her hood when she stepped outside. Stray droplets ran over the cloth edge and soaked her bangs, plastering them to her head. Robin wiped them free of her face, and her eyes fell on someone else on the grounds. Also hooded, and she could hear how strained their breathing was, even at this distance. The wound they took clearly wasn't closed all the way.

"Thank you for coming. And... I'm sorry." Robin whispered out, knowing she wouldn't be getting an answer. The rasping in the other's throat was proof of that. The figure walked forward, one eye gazing at her from under the hood of the traveling cloak. The other had an eye patch back in place; a rough leather one that was a far cry from the usual black Basilio preferred.

The East Khan watched her, still saying nothing. Just waiting for her to make the next move. Robin almost wished he could speak, just to put off what needed to happen that little bit longer.

She drew a bag from her robes as she spoke, parting the draw strings a little.

Argent glimmered up at her, shimmering even with the cloudy sky and rain soaked fog closing in around them. Robin stared at it for one moment... before pushing her hand forward to Basilio. His hands cupped around it, obscuring the glow as he drew the strings back around the bag, and made it vanish into his cloak.

Robin felt her throat grow tight as it vanished; it was like a part of her had just been cut out and given away. It was the most painful safeguard she could imagine, giving just one gem away... but also the most treasured one of the lot.

 _'What would Chrom feel, if he could see this?'_

Basilio drew out a different gem; one that had the same beautiful cut as Argent... but missing its glow, its warmth and comforting presence. It was a poor substitute to Emmeryn's gift to Chrom, and they both knew it.

"I... I'm sorry it came to this. I hope he knows that, and you do too. And I'm sorry you have to miss the festivities, in favor of catching the next ship out." Basilio's answer was laying a hand on her shoulder, and giving it a tight squeeze.

"Th-thanks. I hope it'll be worth this all, in the long run." She clapped her hand over his wrist, before passing on the second bag to him. "A few things from tables as well. No sense in you going hungry on top of being dead, right?"

Basilio winced, and she knew he was fighting back a laugh in his throat. Even that was still too rough on it. But he took the satchel as well, giving her a nod before turning on his heel and leaving.

Robin walked back to the banquet as well, hoping again that it would all work out as planned.

-o-o-o-

Robin swept her hood back, entering the celebration again. But she took pains to stay to the edges, not feeling equal to the festivities.

But eventually, Chrom's eyes fell on her, even from across the hall. And when their gaze met, she found herself drawn to him. Chrom moved as well, meeting her halfway at the edges of the room. He didn't remark on the wet edges to her cloak, or shy from the dampness stuck to her skin.

Instead he took her hand, pushing some warmth back into her fingers.

"Is it done?" She already knew what 'it' was. And that he'd somehow figured out what was going on. Even when she tried to sneak out, her husband could be surprisingly astute.

"Don't worry," Chrom continued. "I kept the conversation shifted well away from you. I think everyone was under the impression you either needed fresh air, or seconds at one of the banquet tables they couldn't see."

"You're becoming quite the master of subterfuge." She whispered in his ear, enjoying how his hand curled its fingers around hers. In retaliation she leaned in, and her breath tickled at his skin. Just then she needed a distraction from what had happened. Though even with the warmth from her husband, her voice came out heavy. "But... yes. I-"

"Don't apologize. I hope that it won't be necessary in the long run, but..." Chrom sighed out and trailed off. "But no sense taking chances. I've learned to trust you."

 _'I know. And I hope that trust won't prove to be your undoing, love.'_ Robin held her tongue, instead leaning against him for a moment. She tried to banish the visions from her nightmare, focusing only on the present.

"Will you stay with me? You'll catch your cold if you venture back outside. And that's the last thing I want for you." Robin nodded against his throat, and let him take her back into the full warmth of the main hall.

"I admit I... I feel a little tense, still. A little uneasy. I keep telling myself that the battle is over, and there's nothing more to worry about, but..."

"I know, Robin. But whatever is waiting for us, we'll face it together," Chrom told her. "Whatever may come."

Robin dipped her head, letting the rain in her bangs soak his. Their foreheads bumped together and she repeated his words.

"Whatever may come."

 **To Be Concluded.**

 **((Author's Note: And that will wrap up Part II. Thank you to everyone for reading so far, through all the ups and downs and breaks this story has taken. Just like in Part I, now that I've finished a section I'll be taking a break for the next month or so, to try and bring the final section as close to finished as possible. I will see you all once again on April 8** **th** **, as this fic finally draws to a close in Part III.)**


	56. PART III Inferno: A Distant Shore

**Part III: Inferno**

 **Chapter 56: A Distant Shore**

The steady roar and lap of ocean reached Lucina's ears. It pulsed in her ear, a sigh of waves trying to pull Lucina out of her sleep. She turned over with a sleepy mumble of complaint, and her cheek rasped against sand. That, along with a wet sputter from something washing over her side pushed Lucina up.

She found herself looking at a sandy beach, a blue ocean glimmering out beyond her. To either side, dunes of sand stretched out uninterrupted. Deserted, empty... utterly alone.

' _Alone? But- where are the others?'_

Lucina drew herself to her feet, feeling like her body had turned into a giant bruise. Everything ached.

And at the moment, she couldn't remember how she'd found her way here. Just that there weren't any Shepherds nearby, only her.

 _'Don't panic! Just think...'_ She took some steadying breaths, calming her heart. Now she had a rough notion of what it was like for Robin and Morgan to wake up, confused and lost-

 _'Morgan...'_ The name teased at something, as Lucina took her first shaky steps along the sand. Ocean water lapped over her feet...

 _Ocean water had also lapped and slapped against the sides of the ships as they cast off from Valm. The Valmese navy had survived well enough, with plenty of ships to take the troops back home. Lucina stood at the prow of one, feeling the ocean air tease at her hair and blow it back. A part of her ached to take wing on the ocean breeze, to fly out ahead of the ships-_

 _She'd pushed the longing back. Instead she busied herself, turning her back to the horizon and walking along the ship. She'd waved to Morgan where he leaned against a railing with Owain. Their cousin was showing him a maneuver with a practice sword, while Cynthia made herself comfortable on a collection of rope as she watched. Severa had been close by as well, pretending not to watch as she helped Kejelle with the upkeep of her armor._

 _Lucina's eyes drifted over all of them, before a rumbling of thunder drew her attention-_

The memory went on pause as Lucina's boots scuffed against a bit of drift wood.

' _Wait, that's not-'_

She stared down at it, realizing that it was still too polished and straight to be anything like that. She was staring down at the remains of a ship's timber, torn from a hull and scattered along the beach.

 _The ships creaked and strained against a squall blowing up around them. For all the good it did, Lucina tightened her sword belt around her and gazed out to where dark clouds were gathering. The once clear horizon was swallowed up by a brewing storm._

 _"I don't understand." Morgan was at her side, looking out. Owain was more busy with leaning over the railing and being utterly sick to his stomach from the tossing waves. "Everything reported said that this would be a smooth voyage. So where did this come from…?"_

And now the skies were utterly clear. No sign of the rogue storm that had swept up on them and sent the ships to tossing in the waves. All at once Lucina didn't hear the peaceful wash of waves, but instead frantic screams as the sailors tried to keep the vessels afloat.

 _She'd fought to keep her own balance. Until a massive wave swept over the ship, catching her up with it. Real panic stabbed through Lucina as she fought to find her footing. But the wave pushed her back, getting washed towards the railing. Everyone else was fighting against the wave, except for-_

"MORGAN!" The name burst out of her, and Lucina whirled around, desperately scanning the beach again. There were more ruins of the ship filling her vision, drifting in the waves. And along with them, she saw something else; a sodden form, wrapped in a tactician's cloak. Lucina splashed and sloshed her way towards it, fear gripping her throat. The panic only let loose and allowed her to breath when Morgan gave a low moan and lifted his head up, sea water running from his bangs and down his face.

"Hey, Luci..." He tried to say, only to trail off when he took in their surroundings.

"This isn't a ship, is it." She knelt down next to him, shaking her head. He was alive at least. "I... I think I remember, for a change. You went overboard, and I went with you?"

That matched up with her memory; how he'd let go of the rigging he'd latched onto. Instead he'd lunged after her, heedless of the waves pushing him over the railings; all that had mattered to Morgan was reaching her.

"And we were lucky enough to find our way here... wherever here is." Lucina confirmed, slowly pulling him to his feet. A smaller, tide wave broke around them, adding that little bit of extra salt water to soak into their clothes. Lucina guided Morgan towards the beach, resting only when the water was lapping at their feet instead of their knees. At least they weren't shivering too much; wherever they were, the sun was rich and hot in the air.

"I think we're in Plegia. The heat suggests that; so does the quality of the sand. It's a lot darker and richer than any of those white beaches Valm has." Morgan picked up on their surroundings quickly, with that theory. He took in the ruins of the beach; the fragmented bits that used to be a ship, and just how quiet it was, before looking back to her.

"So I'm guessing that next… We find the others?" He asked. She nodded, and picked a direction for them to start in. He didn't complain over how arbitrary it was. At the moment, it just FELT like that was the right place to be walking. Something pulled them both that way, made their steps that little bit more sure.

As their foot prints went from wet sand to dry sand, as they climbed a near mountain of a dune, and as the sun crept a little further overhead, Lucina picked something out ahead of them. She blinked against the heat mirage and drew up a hand to shade her eyes. The horizon grew a little more solid, and her eyes focused on blobs against the blue sky. They resembled shells, and loomed large above the tide line. But they looked oddly broken, skewed at an angle and jagged at the edges. Morgan breathed against her, and she felt his body tense up. His eyes were narrowed... and looking different from how she remembered. More reptilian.

"Morgan-" she hissed out a warning.

"Wait a second, I just need a moment to really _look_." Morgan answered, his eyes turning to slits and taking on a slight glow. "I can see... those are ships!"

Lucina yanked her own head up, and against her will the world went sharper. She COULD see the details of ships now; broken hulls and shattered masts. At least two of them were washed up on the beach. Milling around them she saw smaller shapes; survivors. There was Frederick's armor, catching the sunlight. Sumia and Cynthia both stood nearby, calming the pegasi. Owain carried supplies out to where Lissa was taking an inventory, along with-

"Father!" Lucina said at the same moment Morgan blurted out "Mother!"

She didn't know which of them started running, whether it was her or Morgan. Regardless, they surged forward shoulder to shoulder. Both of them ate up the sand at a fast pace; the soft ground tried to bog them down... but for the price of a little twinge in her eye and hand, she felt her body grow lighter. They both skimmed along the dunes. Shapes stirred and ached beneath her back, but didn't fully stretch out.

Chrom turned to look at them. She picked out his expression lighting up when he realized them, and he and Robin both ran to meet them… Robin almost tripping and landing face first in the sand. Before Lucina could speak, Chrom swept her and Morgan both up in a hug.

"You're alright! Ah... thank the gods!"

"I told you; they take after you. They're far too stubborn to die." Despite her words, Robin still put a hand on Lucina's shoulder; as though her mother was getting proof that her children were still alive and well.

"What precisely happened to us? Do either of you know?" Lucina found herself asking.

"A storm; a particularly fierce one at that. It swept over us without any warning... and we were cut away from the main fleet." Robin supplied. "I think the rest of the ships managed, but we're well separated from them now."

"Yes, and without any means to sail to Ferox. We're going to need to cross Plegia in order to get back to Ylisse." Chrom grimaced as he spoke. "We can manage well enough with our supplies, and you were the only two we lost overboard... but it's going to be a long trek."

"Nothing worse than we've done before. We've crossed Plegia with about this many." Robin pointed out.

"Yes... and we've still got the most important things." Robin looked over their children the same time Chrom did. But Lucina found her eyes straying to the Emblem on Chrom's arm. It was still in place, as were the gemstones.

"And Falchion?" She asked.

"We'll carry those fragments as well, and guard them close."

"I think we're about ready to head out as well. Looks like we've salvaged the last of the supplies." Robin added.

Lucina allowed herself another breath, trying to settle the twitch in her eye and wrist. They were all alive and well… even if they were in for a longer trip than they first thought.

-o-o-o-

Robin uselessly licked at her lips, feeling dried out from the desert air. It didn't seem to matter how carefully she scheduled their marches; the heat always managed to find them anyway, and be a lash that drove them across the desert. They were lucky that only a few cases of heat stroke had gripped the Shepherds, and those were something Lissa, Maribelle, Libra and Brady could treat.

Their trek across the desert had been a quiet one as well; the heat and blistering winds being their only companions. There were no Risen out here, and no bandits for that matter. Just a few isolated settlements that pointed them towards the border with Ylisse, and offered scant additions to their rations in exchange for coin.

 _'But how much longer is our luck or supplies going to hold out?'_ She'd taken stock again today; their water was running low, and soon they'd need to ration it out.

Just to rub the situation in deeper, her throat itched and went dry. Robin told it that she'd had a drink recently enough and forced her steps to go a little bit quicker. For a moment the sky wobbled around her, and the sand lurched under her foot. A hand at her arm kept her from pitching forward face first over the edge of the dune.

"Don't collapse on me, Robin." Chrom said.

"I-I wasn't planning on it." She managed around dry lips. "I just… want us to get further east."

"…And get home?" Chrom finished for her, and smiled over the startled blink Robin gave him.

"It does worry me, just how well you can read me sometimes." Robin forced her steps to slow and match Chrom's pace.

"Only because something similar is going through my head." Chrom admitted, a bashful smile spreading over his face. "It's been a long time since we've seen Ylisstol; walked the halls of the castle or the town. Or held-"

Their first daughter. Lucina. This time it was Chrom's steps that faltered and it was Robin's turn to support him.

"…More reason to get us both back safely to her. Hopefully we're only a few days from the border-"

She trailed off, seeing Frederick riding towards them.

Or at least half riding towards them. In truth, Sumia was doing half of the riding and support for him, his leg still braced and dangling uselessly in the saddle. Still, the knight kept his eyes trained on them.

"Chrom? Reporting in from the front." He launched into his information without preamble. "Our pegasus scouts have been able to spot another city off to our north..."

"But you don't seem pleased about it." Chrom pointed out, and Frederick gave a heavy sigh.

"No. We finally have a notion of where we are, but only because the sight is unmistakable. We've found our way just outside of Plegia's capital." Then it was Chrom's turn to have a sour look on his face. She felt the way he tensed up, and saw how his neck muscles looked ready to shake his head back and forth. All too ready to go around the city.

She stalled that decision with a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Chrom... But I'm not seeing a lot of choice. We need to rest and regroup, and Plegia's capital might be our best choice for both. We can camp outside it if nothing else, and just send scouts into the town for supplies." They'd already tried that out on the oasis towns and settlements they'd encountered, not wanting to spook any of the inhabitants with marching an army through.

No reason why it couldn't work on the capital.

"…We really don't have a choice?" Chrom sighed out.

"Not without risking a lot more in the process. We've been amazingly lucky not to have any loss from the storm. And I'm not keen to get through that, just to have someone die from starvation or dehydration." Robin answered. Chrom's eyes went over her face and likely took in the dried up state she was in.

"Then... alright. We'll stay the course."

-o-o-o-

When they crested the hill, Chrom instantly knew that camping out wasn't going to be an option. Not if the collection of riders waiting for them was any sign. The line of horses was arrayed on a dune overlooking the city below, and he swore that very little had changed since he'd snuck into the capital to try and rescue Emmeryn.

The horses were barded in violet and gold, their coats all uniformly black. The horse in the lead sidled forward to meet them, the feathers on its wings barely stirring in the dry wind. The rider atop it was just as composed, and looked down at them with a familiar, haughty gaze.

"Well met, my lords. But I must say, it is a shock to find you on Plegian soil." Aversa's voice slid out, with a sickly sweet edge to it that still set his nerves on edge. At least there weren't any fires here that she could light up. "There was a grain of truth to the Feroxi tales then. You were beset by a storm. We've had rumors from those traveling in from our Northern border… and now, here we have you, washed in. So you had rough sailing?"

"Y-Yes," Chrom gave a cautious answer... and saw how Aversa's eyes rested on the shield on his arm.

"But you've survived with all the important things, it seems. And a few unimportant additions as well." He also saw how her gaze swept over his family. A cruel smirk twisted her lips when she took in his children.

"What does that-?" He snapped out angrily, only for her to trample his words with more of her own.

"Still, you look battered from your journey and your shocks. You MUST come into the capital proper and rest from your travels. King Validar himself insists on that." The hostility dried up in his mouth.

"...Validar certainly has a way of learning about the situation quickly." Robin whispered in Chrom's ear. "He's almost too quick with offering his hospitality."

"All this whispering, Robin? What are you going on about?" Robin raised her head, meeting Aversa's eyes without flinching.

"Just wondering who we should have pitch camp. We wouldn't dream of imposing." Robin answered with a careful, cool tone.

"We also wouldn't dream of being poor hosts to a collection of returning champions. After all, you DID depose Walhart..." Her eyes flickered over the Emblem once more. They rested on the green gemstone fixed in a socket. "And obtained another gemstone as well. Do you intend to find the last one, Exalt?"

"...That is our plan, yes." Chrom felt like the answer was wrenched from him. And he really didn't like the satisfied smile that crossed Aversa's lips.

"Then you will be glad to hear we've made your search a touch easier. Sable has been found inside our borders, and is in Validar's possession. I know for a fact he would be pleased to present the gemstone to you, in person. You will accept that invitation, won't you?"

Suddenly that knowing smile made a lot more sense. It didn't do much to keep Chrom from bristling or hating her smile on sight... but it at least made more sense. Even Robin went quiet over Aversa's words for a moment.

"I... beg your pardon, but Chrom, may I have a moment?" Her hand clapped on his shoulder as she spoke, spinning him around so they could speak with a fraction more of privacy.

"Chrom, I don't think I need to say how suspicious this looks... but at the same time, this isn't exactly an offer we can refuse." Robin whispered, making sure to keep both their backs to Aversa.

"I know, I know. If we have Sable, we can take care of all our problems; reforge Falchion, and perform the Awakening. This sounds too good to be true, but... what choice do we have?"

"Only in how we say yes-" Robin cut off on that, and Chrom instantly recognized the light that flickered across her eyes. She had some sort of idea. She did her best to hide it and train her face into a look of bland interest as she turned back to Aversa.

"Of course we accept the invitation. Chrom and I will be glad to go directly to the palace as soon as possible. But I fear the same can't be said for ALL of our soldiers. They need to rest now, and recover their strength. Frederick, you can see to them, right?" She turned as she spoke, and Chrom saw that Frederick had stirred from the saddle and was leaning on Sumia for support.

"Yes, I can manage that. As much of a mark it will be against my pride... I'd be grateful for the chance to rest early and give my leg a chance to mend." Chrom bit back a smile of his own; Frederick and Sumia could manage with a set of soldiers, and easily keep an escape route open for them. And it would be in poor form to insist an injured soldier strain himself to go with them.

Aversa might have picked up on some of that, with how her smile wilted for the briefest moment. But she still dipped her head in a nod. She motioned imperiously with her hand, and a handful of riderless horses were brought forward.

"Then with all haste, let us be on our way. I'd hate to keep Validar waiting, after you've agreed… and I'm certain you can find a few companions to fill the saddles." She turned from them without waiting to hear their response, while Chrom frowned over the horses.

 _'So if they can't get all of us into a potential trap, they'll try and divide us further?'_

"Chrom. It's okay, we'll manage." Robin spoke at his ear, almost reading his thoughts. "We can add a few horses of our own to fill out the ranks, and bring a few extra into Plegia; Anna is well rested enough, as is Gaius. Tharja and Henry both know their way around Plegia and would be useful in a pinch. And-"

"...And we're coming too." Lucina spoke up. She stood next to Owain and Morgan. Cynthia peeked out from behind, and all four of them had a stubborn set to their jaws. Morgan held up his hand to start ticking off reasons as well.

"You need people who are still fresh, alert, and ready to fight if-"

"You're welcome to come along." Chrom cut him off, leaving all four of them staring at him, jaws going slack. "To be honest... we've had this talk several times before, and you've proven your point and your worth. Don't see much of a need to go over this again."

He picked out a few others, trying to draw close; still ready to march, despite all that they'd weathered.

"...And we're losing daylight." Robin added. "If you're going to come with us, then grab your weapons and a saddle. And if anyone else needs or wishes to accompany us, they'll need to be quick about it. We should go see just how hospitable Validar plans to be."


	57. Hospitality

**Chapter 57: Hospitality**

The sun beat at their backs. Much as Lucina wanted to be somewhere, anywhere else than this thrice accursed capital, she couldn't deny that getting out of the heat sounded welcome. But at the same time she slumped in the saddle, hands constantly fumbling at the horse's reins; she fought between holding them loose, and bringing the horse up short to keep them all from riding into a trap.

She glanced back at Robin, hoping her mother had a solid plan. Robin's eyes didn't stay fixed at one point, always glancing around; lingering on things that could be landmarks, side streets and escape routes. Watching her, Lucina found herself breathing a little easier and started to look around as well.

Chrom stayed up front, shoulders tensed and hands balled into fists. And Morgan-

Lucina wasn't sure what was making Morgan's sit so easily in the saddle. Whether it was the prospect of a warm bed or, much like her, he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. (And Lucina reminded herself not to be even the slightest bit tempted by lodgings for the evening. They were probably dark, sorcerous lodgings.)

"Taking a look as well?" Robin murmured, keeping her voice pitched low. Lucina only just heard it over the clatter of the horse's hooves. "You'll want to watch for alleys we can escape through... and also which ones have armed men and thugs trying and failing to hide themselves in. Keep scanning with the corners of your eyes, instead of looking directly at them. We're climbing another hill right now, which should give us a good vantage point."

With those words in mind, Lucina looked over her surroundings, giving the horse a little more freedom to climb the streets-turned-incline.

With each step the air felt a little less choked with dust and sweat, and they crested the hill. Before them, the rest of Plegia stretched out in clay and plaster buildings. And beyond-

She didn't take in any of the routes, like she should have. Instead her eyes froze on the things stretching up above the roof lines. The bones above them were a matching color, bleached dry from the sun. They cut into the blue sky like ivory knives. A shiver moved through her body, and it was a wonder it didn't shake her free from the saddle.

"Lucina-?" Robin spoke, her voice stilling the worst of the shakes. "What is it?"

"I...I've seen that skull before, when Emmeryn died. I'm still reminded of-"

"...Of Grima?" Robin finished. Lucina's answer was a spine deep shudder. Looking at the bones was bad enough, but she KNEW that if she shut her eyes she'd be facing six points of painful red light. She could already hear a harsh roar of a voice.

"I-"

"You know, the desert temperatures can play strange tricks on fragile minds." Aversa's voice cut into the discussion, and angry heat shot into Lucina's cheeks. "Still, I advise that we move forward; the horses shall need to get out of the sun, and I'm certain the same is true for you. We can ill afford to wait."

The dark flier urged her horse forward, the black coat of the beast like a stain against the tan stone work of buildings and streets. The other horses responded to the sight and motion, plodding forward.

Taking them closer to that knife toothed behemoth of a skull. Lucina dipped her head against both the sight and heat.

"This shouldn't be haunting me any longer. I don't even know if those are the true bones, or an effigy. But..." But no matter her words, no matter the heat, she was shivering.

"Lucina, I remember your vision. All of us do. And the memory of that is enough to make anyone pause." Robin's voice still worked on soothing her, and stilling the panic. Chrom brought his horse up to her other side. While the horses prevented him from resting a hand on her, he still managed to meet her eye to eye, and reassure her through his gaze.

"It won't come to pass again. I can promise that; Robin and I will fight to make sure of it." Chrom said.

"I just don't want you to die for it, too." There was a deep ache in her chest now, blotting out any left over fear. She forced herself to look between the two, reminding herself they were still here. They both rode with Lucina, guiding her down the streets towards the Plegian palace, Morgan taking the lead.

"By the way, Lucina... forgive me if this is abrupt, but there was one thing in the vision that made me wonder." Robin said as they rode. "I saw you fighting the dragon and... I'm not entirely sure how you survived."

"I wish I could tell you why." Lucina answered. "It was just like what you saw; Morgan threw himself in front of me back then, as well. The dragon could have, and SHOULD have killed us both with a strike. But... Grima didn't. Something made her miss the mark. She destroyed the entire hill instead, but I survived getting pitched down the side. That... that was when I lost track of Morgan..."

Her brother turned around to watch her.

"I-I called out for you, Morgan. But with all the dust and smoke, I couldn't see you. Owain found me while I was yelling your name, and guided me away. Brady was there too, all of the children were. Drawn to the noise, I'm certain. And we knew that it was then or never again to get through the time gate. And then there was the thing we thought we saw in the air… another dragon that seemed ready to finish what Grima started. Another encouragement for us to throw ourselves through, even if it was in a scattered method."

Morgan narrowed his eyes, a distant look crossing his face as he tried to think back.

"I... I don't know what happened, what I thought I was doing. I think I can remember running through a gate. Either getting pushed or dragged by... something." Morgan rubbed at his head, still trying to tear the memories loose.

"Morgan, I SWEAR you'd better not be thinking of smashing your head into something. Or trying to ride your horse into a wall." Lucina warned, and got a laugh from Morgan in answer.

"Relax, I'm past that! Besides we've got most of the past figured out; for all I know I got smacked by a bit of brick and just blundered my way into the portal. Point is, I'm not too worried about remembering."

"Well… I'm glad you're relatively at peace with that." Even if she found herself worrying over it. What HAD guided Morgan into the portal? Was it the same silver-blue dragon that had hounded them, right before they threw themselves into the spell?

Before she could voice any of that, Lucina noticed how Robin was rubbing at her head. A far off look had also settled into her eyes.

"...One last throw of the dice..." Robin stared at the skull, growing larger and larger until they were walking under the massive jaws. Ahead of them lay the palace, chasing away any questions Lucina had about that odd phrase.

There was already a welcoming party waiting for them at the palace gates. And it was easily the most somber looking welcoming party Lucina had ever seen, matching their escort in dark clothing... and with a familiar figure standing at the head of the group.

The months in Valm had done very little to dim her memory of Validar... or Robin's from how her mother stiffened up. Before Lucina could speak, Robin and Chrom both guided their horses in front of herself and Morgan, pushing them back. Trying to shield them.

"Hail to the returning heroes." Validar only watched Robin and Chrom with polite interest as he spoke. "You've worked miracles in Valm, from what I've heard."

"We hope to work a few more, before the year is out." Chrom answered. Lucina watched the glance between him and Robin… and how they both dismounted, Robin's fingers going to Chrom's hand. No ambush waiting for them, from how gentle her touch was. It acted in sharp contrast to the wary look she gave Validar.

"Ah yes, the Gemstone Sable. My regrets, Exalt, but I would prefer not to hand it to you in such a simple manner." Chrom scowled at that.

"What are you-?"

"There's no need for this tenseness. It's simply a matter of formality and ritual. I would much prefer ceremony to compliment our diplomacy; Plegia thrives on it so."

"...Yes, I seem to remember something like that." Chrom growled out, doubtlessly thinking back to their last encounter. "This is a lot of political maneuvering, Validar. And we don't have time-"

"I only ask for a day and a night to rest your weary bones, Ylisseans. Surely you can spare that much." Validar spread a hand out. "Many have come to see the conquering hero with their own eyes as well. You saw them in the streets, didn't you?"

Suddenly, those looming forms in the streets made much more sense.

"It would wound me to deny them a glimpse of such a beacon of hope." Chrom all but squirmed under those words... but Lucina could see him starting to relent as well.

"Father, don't-!" She spoke up... only for Validar's gaze to fall on her. She froze under it for an instant. Those red eyes reminded her all too much of Grima, in a way that left her blood cold.

"So these are time's orphaned children. The pleasure is mine, rest assured. I've heard MUCH of you." She hated the way his lips twisted up. "There's a strong legacy in the Exalt's brood in particular... I can see that now."

"My lords, it takes work to transport a precious gem. And as you've said, your troops require a rest." Aversera spoke up. "Be assured, the gemstone will be here tomorrow, the Plegians will have their ceremony, and we will all be one step forward to the Awakening ceremony."

"...So be it, then." Chrom finally grumbled out.

"Excellent. I will leave you to settle into your rooms for the evening. I pray you enjoy Plegia's hospitality."

-o-o-o-

"How we're supposed to relax enough to sleep, I've no notion." Chrom tried to keep his voice light as he shut the door behind him. "The accommodations may be fit for a king, but they don't bring to mind any kings I'm particularly fond of..."

Robin, however, didn't turn to his voice. She stood at the window, looking out over Plegia as the sun turned the city to shades of orange and red.

"Robin?" He crossed the distance to where she stood, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"O-oh. Sorry, Chrom... lost in thought. Something about being ready to sleep?"

"No. Definitely not ready to sleep." Neither was she, with the tension in her shoulders. "Something's bothering you, isn't it."

"Just... thinking about the past. Or wondering about it at least." Robin's fingers traced along the masonry of the window opening as she spoke. Chrom's other hand went to her waist, as she leaned back against him. Her breath sighed out, as she tilted her head up to look at him.

"What part of the past, love?" He murmured out, and a second later he had his answer figured out. "...Was it the vision of your mother?"

"Yes..." Robin's eyes slid shut, while his own lingered on the room. The more he looked at it, the more it looked familiar. Not an exact match for the vision they'd shared, but still close enough. "I... I wonder WHY she had to spirit me away. Was there a danger in Plegia-"

She cut off, shaking her head as her eyes scrunched closed a little tighter.

"That... doesn't sound right either. I wish I could figure it all out, but all the fragments I have don't fit together. Or much peace of mind when it comes to her… and whoever arranged for her murder." Robin growled at the end of that, before forcing herself to take a quick breath. He swore there was a flash of heat in her skin, remembering her encounters with Excellus. Chrom's answer was to fully wrap his arms around Robin and hold her close. Her head fit right into the gap between his chin and shoulder, and he brushed his cheek against her forehead.

"We'll figure it out, Robin. We'll reclaim Sable on the morrow, and perform the Awakening. Who knows, maybe Naga will grant us another vision... hopefully less painful this time." Robin tilted her head up to meet his lips for a moment.

"I hope so, on both counts." She lowered her voice; just in case anyone thought to listen in, Chrom knew. "I've arranged our rooms as well as I could. Everyone has someone else they can trust to watch their backs, if things take a turn for the worse."

-o-o-o-

"…This is a bad idea." Lucina grumbled under her breath. Morgan didn't heed her advice of course, but she still felt a need to express it. "A VERY bad idea." She put a touch more emphasis on it.

"Maybe." Morgan answered, still moving through the passages. If the starkness of the halls, the fangs worked into the architecture unnerved him, he certainly didn't show it. "But how often do you find yourself in a Plegian stronghold? It's worth looking into at the very least."

Lucina grumbled at that, but still followed Morgan.

"Fine, then what exactly ARE we looking into? As long as we're sticking with this bad idea."

"Recon mainly, seeing if we can't figure out a decent escape route if push comes to shove. And if we happen across records or intelligence or something, then all to the better… by the way if we come across anyone and they ask, we got lost looking for the bathroom." Lucina had her doubts that would actually work, but kept her comments to herself. Instead she worked on memorizing the passage ways, counting off one creepy tapestry or carving after the other.

' _They certainly are fond of the colors purple and red here…'_ And her stomach did another twist, remembering the dragon skull just outside. It seemed like every hallway had some sort of dedication or sly tribute to Grima.

But Morgan wasn't as bothered by it, simply putting a hand out and guiding his way along. He paused only when he reached a set of double doors, a golden scroll symbol inlayed on the surface. The hinges were obviously well cared for, sliding open with barely a noise.

"Well, how do you like that." Morgan grinned at what lay beyond the doors. Peeking past the edge, Lucina saw what brightened his smile. Tomes and scrolls lined shelves in layers, stretching almost out of sight in the room they found themselves in. "It's going to take some searching… but there's got to be SOMETHING here we can use."

He motioned for Lucina to help him scan the shelves, and there was a familiar eagerness in his eyes; she'd seen it in the distant past, when he'd coaxed her into raiding a kitchen or the like.

"No convincing you to just go find our rooms, is there?"

"Nope!" Morgan answered in a cheery voice, already browsing the shelves with eyes and fingers. With a long suffering sigh, Lucina followed his example. The library turned into a blur of paper and ornate titles after that. Her eyes threatened to cross after so many words, and she found herself wondering if gold ink and binding was the standard in Plegian writing.

Some of the records seemed innocuous enough; family trees and the like. Other books made her skin crawl, if her eyes lingered too long on the spines-

"…Hey, Luci? You want to check this out?" Morgan thankfully drew her eyes away from that section. He held a tattered and time-worn book in his hands, half held out to her.

Lucina cautiously extended a hand to the book, as Morgan stepped up beside her. His hands cracked the book open with a dry rustle of old paper, to expose the pages.

"Looks like research notes of some sort…" She muttered. "So why would they dedicate this next to rituals? She traced a finger over the tattered pages, grimacing over the stains on the edges. She hoped they were just from ink. "…Penned by… Forneus?"

"Ah, yes. A man quite ahead of his time." A voice brushed at her ears, smooth but oily in a way that made her freeze. Morgan did one better, almost dropping the book when he jumped and spun around to face the speaker.

Validar had lost none of his presence, even with little more than candles picking out the glint of his gold jewelry. He still towered over them both, and looked down his nose at them-

But with a look of amusement, instead of outrage.

"I must say, it cheers me to see kin of the Exalt so interested in our past."

"We- we aren't-" Lucina tried to protest. He moved over her words, gliding past her to stand next to Morgan and glance down at the book. A smile twisted Validar's face, looking all the world like a proud parent with a child… though whether that was directed at them or the book, Lucina couldn't say.

"Perhaps there's a touch of fate, that you were so drawn to this tome." She wanted to find some reason to excuse themselves; to say this was all just an accident, that they got lost on the way to the bathroom like Morgan had suggested… but her throat had gone dry, her words seemingly having died of thirst.

"W-What do you mean by that?" And Morgan was no help in getting away either; after that initial jump and start, his feet seem rooted to the ground. And he couldn't take his eyes off Validar. "Is there… some connection or something?"

"You're a clever enough child. And you and your sister, being of a blessed blood line… well, you have some common ground with the one whose research has been transcribed here." A long black nail moved across the script.

' _Looking unnervingly like a dragon's claw,'_ Lucina thought with a shiver. Against her will, her eyes scanned the text and picked out words. Things like 'perfect being' and 'dragon' leapt out at her, almost determined to burrow into her head the same way Validar's voice was sliding into her ears.

"He was… instrumental, in refining the blood of dragons; taking pity on the lost potential of those sealed and wrongly imprisoned under the earth."

"That's not-" Lucina tried to say; not what her father had always told them. Validar's red eyes silenced her protests, when they focused on her.

"Yes, there ARE alternate tellings… but given that we have true records instead of word of mouth… I'm inclined to give our sources more credence. It holds with our doctrine as well; that these were the first pure beings. Our own race is only a broken shadow, compared to their fire and power… Though I must say, you seem to have an eye for truth."

"What… did this man do?" Morgan just managed to ask.

"He took a red sample from dragons sealed up long ago. He was a visionary and saw the purity and power of their blood, where before only fools saw corruption and madness. And he refined it, used it as a catalyst for his sorcery to combine those creatures into one perfect vessel."

"Gr-Grima?" Lucina gasped out.

"You ken quickly. Much like your mother, it seems… and yes, as I said before, I've heard the tales about you. Two children, cast away from time. Orphaned of both parents and their own future." Pity clouded his words… and Lucina's teeth showed at it. Validar didn't notice her snarl, or chose to ignore it. Morgan brushed against her, like he was years younger and hiding behind her, like when they were children.

Under Validar's gaze, she felt like a child again; weak, and powerless… and ignorant, compared to who was standing before her.

"You know, no small amount of magic is required to do such a thing, to cast you free; and yet considering the power your generation holds, perhaps it is no surprise Naga would wish to preserve it… and safe guard both of YOU in particular."

He lifted a hand from the text… and pressed the tip of his nail to Lucina's chin, forcing her to tilt her head up. Her teeth must have squeaked from how tightly they clenched, and yet Validar could only focus on her eyes.

"And the Brand still shines in your eye, proof of that power… along with warring against another mark, I'm willing to guess." He glanced to her wrist, and Lucina flinched away from the contact.

"What are you talking about!?" She finally spat out. Validar only gave her a long look, disappointed in her outburst.

"Only this; you may have gained power from _both_ sides of your family. And it seems it still wars within you, even with the gifts that… _Voice_ of Naga provides." Strange, how he could make that title sound like a curse.

"W-well! That's all very interesting to find out about but we should… should probably be-" Morgan's words wilted under Validar's gaze. Lucina found herself frozen as well, her insides going cold at Validar's revelations.

' _He knows us.'_ And perhaps more chilling… he found them intriguing. It was clear in how he watched them, how his eyes alone had a piercing quality that seemed ready to rummage through their thoughts-

Morgan shivered against her, and the book slipped from his palm. It thudded hard against the tile of the archives, the sound making them all flinch. And breaking eye contact for a brief moment.

But a moment was all she needed to gather her thoughts and will.

"We need to find our way back to our rooms, and those we're sharing them with." Lucina found her strength, when Morgan leaned into her. "This was just an unfortunate diversion and moment of lost bearings, on our part."

When Validar tried to stare her into submission, Lucina only glared back at him, letting a little heat into her eyes.

' _You might scare me a little… but not as much as I'm scared FOR Morgan.'_

And he must have realized it, with how he took a step back. That was all the opening Lucina needed, grabbing Morgan by the hand and guiding him towards the door.

"…You've quite the devotion to your family, child. Admirable enough… but I have my doubts it will aid you that much." Validar's words followed them out, and haunted Lucina all the way back to their rooms.

-o-o-o-

Her rest was fitful, and none of the questions in her head would quiet enough for Robin to sleep fully into slumber. Memories, phantasms, half complete thoughts all spun around her when she shut her eyes.

She wondered at the place they found themselves in. If this was a room her mother had spent time in, or just what her father had planned. If she'd glimpsed him in the hallways… or other figures her eyes had half recognized.

This wasn't an easy place to sleep in, as Chrom said. It didn't matter how soft the bed was, or if she had a warm form next to her. Finally, Robin opened her eyes with a irritated huff. She found herself gazing at her husband, who despite his doubts was sleeping easily. His arms were drawn around her waist, fingers splayed across her hips. And his face was so calm, so gentle that it was hard to hold any resentment against him. Even if everything else was chaotic...

"...I still have you, love." Robin whispered, and reached her hand up to brush some of his hair out of his face.

Her hand froze before it ever touched his forehead. The six eyed mark gave a low, pulsing glow in time to her heartbeat, staining the bed sheets and Chrom's face with a flickering purple light. She clapped her other hand around it, dimming the glow. A low pain settled into the bones of both hands, and she was sure that she heard something outside of her own heartbeat.

Steps. Carefully concealed ones; if her mark hadn't chosen to activate, she might have never heard them at all. Chrom must have heard the same, as his eyes flew open. He froze when he met her gaze, waiting for her to give the word.

"Wait..." Robin whispered, gazing over him to where the door was.

Slowly, it drifted open on its hinges. The darkness fell away as Robin focused on it, her vision going sharper along with the shapes. She could see someone just visible in the doorway...

...And she knew that it wasn't any of the Shepherds. And had no business with the dagger held in those hands.

 _'Daggers-'_ A bolt of anger shot through her, just as strong as the bolt of magic that flew out from her fingers, tinged with flames. It slammed into the figure, throwing them clean from the door with an explosion of sound and force.

"Damn Validar!" Robin spat out as she pulled herself free from the bed. The spell tome slid out from under her pillow, falling into her grip. Chrom was already throwing on his tunic, half dressed in his pants and buckling a silver sword around his waist. Robin threw her own cloak around her shoulders, holding the Thoron tome close.

Down the hallway she could hear the other Shepherds rallying, grabbing whatever weapons they had on hand.

So much for hospitality, Robin knew. They'd be fighting their way out, if they wanted to see dawn.


	58. The Knife In Your Back

**Chapter 58: The Knife In Your Back**

Her dreams were feverish things, where massive fanged skulls rose up from the floor and tried to eat her family and friends. And Lucina, no matter how she struggled, couldn't call out to warn them. Nor move to stop what she saw. When she woke up there were tears in her eyes-

And a glint of steel, pointing straight at her face.

There were worse things that Lucina had woken up to, easily. The bloodstained blade of Falchion returning home in place of her parents, news that Morgan had shut himself in his room and wouldn't see anyone… But that fact still didn't make her enjoy opening her eyes and seeing a knife leveled at her throat. Lucina's lips rose up in a snarl, her fingers digging into the blankets and almost going sharp at the tips… though all of it didn't do much good. She couldn't risk getting gutted by that dagger-

"PILLOW OF JUSTICE!" Cynthia's voice turned the assassin's head… right as a pillow flew through the air and caught him full in the face. "R-right!" Morgan followed up with a second pillow. It staggered the killer at the very least, drawing the knife away from Lucina.

It gave her just enough time to grab her own pillow… and rip it away to where the parallel, half Falchion lay hidden underneath. She rushed the assassin, and didn't flinch from cutting him down.

"…Do you really sleep with Falchion under your pillow?" Cynthia tilted her head to the side as she asked. "I'm not sure if that's cool, or worrying."

"We can discuss this later." Lucina's voice came out in a snap. "When we don't have to deal with assassins. So hurry!"

At least Cynthia and Morgan were ready enough to follow her lead, falling into step behind her. Those same steps faltered over the body Lucina had left on the floor… but still ultimately still shadowed her.

And she wanted the two close, with the chaotic sounds ringing out on the other side of the door. Lucina all but wrenched the door off its hinges, and opened to see a darkened hallway… save for the bloodstains catching the desert moonlight, courtesy of the fallen assassins lining the hallway. The Shepherds stood over the bodies, weapons brandished.

"…This took a turn for the worst." Robin's voice echoed along the halls. "We need to get out and quickly, before they can muster more reinforcements. If we can just reach the exterior of the palace, we should be able to take an escape route and meet up with the main camp."

Her mother's robe blended with the shadows, making it hard to pick out where Robin was in the scuffle.

"…Dammit," that was Chrom, and Lucina thought she saw a glimpse of white cape. "We're going to need a rear guard as well; they're going to come at us from both sides, to try and box us in."

From the frustration in his voice, it was clear Chrom knew which place he had to take up.

"Luci, where does that leave us-?" Morgan tried to ask, moving to her side. Lucina put a hand on his shoulder, trying to reassure him… but finding herself at a loss for words.

She didn't want to linger here; where the walls tried to close in and choke out her breath. Where blades had licked out from shadows and tried to draw blood… and where her eyes kept imagining a dark figure draped in ceremonial robes, and holding a knowing, smug smile.

" _Time lost child."_ Validar's words still echoed and mocked her, in her memory.

In front of her Anna was trying to call everyone together to take point; she wasn't anything like Frederick however, lacking the same presence as him. And her words certainly couldn't hold Lucina's focus. Not when her imagination conjured images of Validar lurking in every corner.

"Lucina-!" Robin had finally caught sight of her, and was trying to give orders. "I want you in back with-"

For once, Lucina didn't bother with listening to her. Instead she charged to the front lines, slipping underneath the fingers of those who tried to hold her. Anna tried to grasp her by the cloak, but Lucina weaved past her grip.

"The plan is to get out, right!?" She shot back at the others. "Then let's go!"

She all but flew down the corridor, eyes focused only on what was ahead-

And Morgan, staying close at her side.

"You're not the only one desperate to get out." There seemed to be heat growing from his skin as well. "So don't think about telling me to hang back when you're risking your neck!"

Lucina nodded, throwing herself into a dash.

Morgan's insistence on wandering the castle didn't feel so foolish any longer. Not when he stuck to Lucina like a bur, and called out directions at each hallway. He was gripping his spell tome like a lifeline, and kept blinking his eyes. At first she thought it was due to dust. A bright ring of blue burning in his irises quashed that idea quick enough.

A set of assassins stepped out of the blind corners, bows and swords trained on them-

The bowman never got a chance to fire an arrow off at them, courtesy of a javelin suddenly sprouting from his shoulder and ruining his aim. The arrow embedded itself in stone, feet from Lucina.

"I get that keeping an eye on Morgan is what you do, but hopefully you can trust me to a keep an eye on you!" Cynthia spoke up; the girl seemed a little flat footed and unsure of herself without a pegasus to ride. An axe wielder rushed past Lucina as she locked swords with an assassin. The axe man tried to close with Cynthia-

Only to get parried by Owain's blade, as Inigo darted in and cut the man down.

"And hopefully you trust US to keep an eye on you!" The young Shepherds forced their way forwards as Owain spoke. Another wave of soldiers moved forward, and Lucina winced as a cut opened along her skin. A wave of scales rushed to try and heal it, while she lashed out with a blade and snarl.

' _They're trying to wear us down.'_ Her thoughts growled at her; either physically exhaust the Shepherds… or just make sure that four dragon blooded people in the forces lost most of their control.

They were neck deep in enemy territory, and each step Lucina took was a bloody one.

Plegian killers had a way of keeping her on her toes, their blades like snakes; quicker than what she'd had to fight in Valm. One of them tore a cut along her shoulder as one of the assassins blind sided her, shooting red into Lucina's vision. She cut the killer open, and swore she heard a dark laugh as the man fell.

The sound seemed to creep out from the shadows-

And she swore it was in Validar's voice. It spurred Lucina to rush forward, desperate to get away from that sound. And into the waiting weapons from more men. Lucina grit her teeth against the scrape of her sword against other weapons-

And the scrape of more weapons striking at her side. Some drew blood. Others crashed on scales shoving themselves to the surface of her skin.

Validar must have turned out his entire personal guard, to ensure they wouldn't leave. Lucina grit her teeth and forced her hands to stay steady; she'd cut a path for them, no matter what-

"Lucina-!" Morgan's words cut out in a yelp as he ducked under her sword. Lucina flinched over how close the cut had come to his flesh, and turned the blow into a sweep that opened up a little distance for them. The Plegian assassins fell back from the ferocity of the attack.

"Morgan, TELL me when you're going to be at my side!" She snapped out. The cut in her shoulder ached, slicing into her temper and patience as well.

"Sorry, sorry! I just thought I should get closer to the front with you. If we're going to make another charge... we should have at least some sort of tactician, right?"

At the word 'charge' she turned her head back towards the edge of the hallways. The open air still seemed so, agonizingly far away, and the halls themselves like a suffocating prison.

"R-right? Lucina…?" Morgan's hand reached out to try and touch her shoulder, but she flinched away from the contact. It took her a moment to realize he wasn't even reaching for the inured shoulder, and yet she still felt defensive.

"Right, I guess." She forced herself to say through gritted teeth. "Just as long as we can keep moving."

And hope there was something still human in them, once they stopped.

-o-o-o-

Robin painted the walls golden, courtesy of the Thoron tome she clutched close to her chest. The spell book may well have picked up on her urgency, with an added bite to each crackle of lightning. The soldiers that tried to catch them from the rear never managed to close with Chrom… much to his frustration.

"I'm starting to think that we're going to be fine, at least in the back lines…" Chrom trailed off, tilting his head towards the others.

Ahead one of the Shepherds gave a pained noise, and Anna reeled back from a strike. She clutched at her arm, wincing from a cut tracing along it. The assassins were quick with their knives, if even Anna was struggling-

"COME ON!" The same struggle didn't seem to apply to Lucina, with how her voice carried. But Robin didn't miss the desperate shriek on the edge of it. Over the heads of the Shepherds she saw a blue clad figure lashing about recklessly, heedless of how far she was wading into enemy territory-

And how each step was taking her further from the reach of the Emblem. That much was clear from the blue light lashing around her form. The fire in her blood looked ready to boil out from her skin.

"Chrom, they need you up front!" She shouted out.

"Forget caution for now; we can worry about that when they aren't about to lose themselves!" Chrom hesitated at her words… until he caught a glimpse of Lucina. His eyes seemed to reflect the blue glow on her, and he rushed forward, slamming his armored shoulder into the assassins and ignoring their blades.

Robin moved to follow him-

A twist of scarlet fabric tangled her vision, and dragged her focus from the fight.

' _I've seen that before-'_ The memory flickered up, of a cruel grin and a sharp laughter over her pain. Of a burning forest, a smoke strewn battlefield-

And the memory of going for the kill, only to be stopped short by dark sorcery, not unlike what coated the castle halls. Robin's lips curled, showing her teeth. She barreled into the doorway, chasing that scrap of cloth.

A familiar, and gut churning figure waited for her. Excellus flinched from her charge, staring at her.

"I was wondering if I'd find something unpleasant here." It was a bit of a shock, that there were any words in the snarl that came out between her teeth.

"…And I'll give you credit for being stubborn." Excellus snapped back at her. "I-I see why that witch was so insistent on having me quarter here."

' _Aversa.'_ Robin thought.

"So she wanted me as bait for a trap, I suspect…? Well, I'm not about to go out that easily." Excellus tried to draw himself up, to intimidate her.

Robin only snorted at that. She could still see the scar from their first fight, showing sharp on his face. She flexed her fingers, and a dark thought came to her, wondering how long it would take to grow fresh talons.

' _No, don't jump to that option so fast.'_ Instead she brought her spell tome up, leveling her eyes on Excellus.

"You know, Validar gave me so many orders. And I admit after having to scuttle under Walhart's heel so much, I've gotten tired of listening to them." Excellus continued.

"What are you-?"

"Talking about? Just this; following his orders and leaving you alive isn't a priority for me any longer." A rumble of stone under her feet finished Excellus' words.

' _He baited me into a trap!'_ Robin had only a heartbeat to realize, before the world turned into fire. It washed up around her like a geyser, biting into flesh and fabric, melting the stones at her feet into near glass. She yanked herself backwards, gritting her teeth with a pained noise.

How there was any skin or cloth left on her after it, Robin didn't know. And her head was spinning and throbbing too hard to figure out an answer.

"…Ah yes, trying to kill a dragon with fire. My error, though it did the job of slowing you down well enough." Came Excellus' voice, and Robin howled when a dagger punctured her shoulder. The impact wrenched her off of her feet and pinned her to a violet wall hanging. Her back slammed into the wall next, knuckles rasping against the brick. Robin thrashed against the fabric, her face scrapping against stone and the scales growing along it drawing sparks.

"Such a display." Excellus gave a tsking noise, his hand slapping the tome free from her grip before she could bring it up against him.

"As we were discussing… it seems you have a strength for fire." Rich, blood red flames bloomed in his hand as he spoke. They lit his face in a rictus grin. "But not immunity for it. Meaning there's room for some entertainment before you die."

Robin screamed when the fire slammed into her gut, charring her shirt. The skin underneath shined first like a blistered, raw burn, before violet scales stained her skin like rich wine.

"Ah, yes; it DOES hurt, even if it isn't killing you." And it was burning her blood again, worse than ever before. Each heart beat wanted to char her veins and immolate her heart.

"For all your father builds you up… you're just another animal who swallowed a fragment of power. Looks like it's desperate to burn its way out of you." Excellus gloated over her. A set of carefully filed nails sank into her throat, wrenching her head up.

-o-o-o-

"Lucina, there's a gap-" Inigo started to say, before his words were drowned out in favor of blood pounding through her ears. Lucina's world narrowed to the entrance, a thin slit of pale light with the night sky beyond it. She could just pick out stars twinkling outside, and felt the first hint of fresh air. It teased at her skin, drew her forward.

The only thing between her and it were a few dozen soldiers. Lucina surged forward to meet them. Distantly she knew that Inigo was shouting for her to wait. She didn't listen.

Instead she brought Falchion forward, driving it into the chest of one Plegian before wrenching it free and twisting around. Lucina caught the faintest blue light spreading from her hands and dancing along the blade in a glimmering arc. It made for a sharp contrast against the blood splashing against it. When the next Plegian died with a gurgle, Lucina wrenched the blade free as her feet pushed against the ground. She and sword sprang free for the briefest instant, unbound by anything.

This was close to one of father's moves, Lucina knew. She could bring the blade down in a brutal strike-

But she didn't want to leave the air, just then. Her back ached, burned, her shoulders strained against the confines of the cape draped around them. Lucina thrashed in the air-

And her shoulder in turn smashed hard into the masonry. The walls of the palace slammed back into place around her thanks to the pain, and the promise of the night air was closed off with them. Lucina fell from the air, crashing into the floor. The thin carpet underneath her did little to dull the impact. Judging by the spear rushing towards her, that would be the least of her pain.

"ELFIRE!" Morgan shouted out.

-o-o-o-

Excellus flexed his fingers, his weight keeping Robin pinned to the wall. His fingers dug deeper into her skin as he sneered over his hand. His other hand went to the dagger at his side, clad in a familiar scarlet scabbard and gold hilt.

' _The same dagger-'_ She knew. Excellus yanked at her neck, drawing her eyes from the knife.

"Look at me, you stupid beast. I'M the last thing you'll see before I send you screaming to meet your useless mother-"

His nails cut at her skin, drawing out the blood that burned so ruthlessly in her… and which steamed and smoked against the night air when the droplets touched Excellus' fingers. Flecks of black marked his hands, burn marks springing up on his fingers and choking the air with cooked flesh.

A pained gasp dropped out of Excellus' mouth, his hand flinching away from Robin. She wheezed out a breath, something warm biting at the roof of her mouth. Orange danced in the corners of her eyes, and Robin knew the fire was limited to just her blood any longer.

Fire seethed out of the corners of Robin's lips, and crisped portions of her bangs. The smell of burning hair almost made her gag, and Excellus threw a sleeve over his mouth to try and breathe without coughing. His hand yanked the dagger free from her shoulder.

She was eager enough to pounce on that lapse. Her claws dug into his sleeve, the scarlet of his robe growing a deeper red from the blood welling up under her grip. Her other claws sunk into the book as she swept close to the ground, yanking Excellus down with her.

The man's face was tight with pain and rage, his hand flashing out with the dagger… but too slow, compared to Robin. She snapped the book close to her chest, glaring over the cover at Excellus. Her other hand yanked free from his arm, cutting down his sleeve and flesh… and snapping around the dagger in his hand. With a shriek she drove it into his chest… and it made for a perfect lightning rod for the spell brewing in her other hand. Lightning snapped from the book pages, mingled with the fire in her mouth… and striking straight for the heart of Excellus.

The spell slammed through him, the man going rigid from the contact.

Excellus dropped to the floor, bleeding out through the hole in his chest. He stared at her in disbelief, before the light went out of his eyes for good. Robin continued to eye his form, needing to make sure that he was dead.

And wondering over the hollow feeling settling into her.

Robin stared down at Excellus' corpse, feeling her anger seep away. The scales left her body as calm returned.

"I did it. I killed him." She said aloud, though no one else was there to listen. Robin stared down at her hand, the last of the Thoron spell crackling through it. Her mother had revenge, at least.

...Even if Robin herself still had no answers.

 _'Stop. It's enough that you put a stop to him.'_ Robin forced the thought into her head. From the sound of it, the rest of the battle was almost won. They'd be on their way soon enough, and they'd figure out another way to get Sable-

"Well fought, daughter." A voice hissed into her ear, freezing Robin in place. A hand tightened around her shoulder, right as she felt the prickle of dark magic racing up her spine. She couldn't cry out for help; couldn't even see anyone past a dark miasma creeping around her.

Validar pulled her into the embrace of the dark spell, and her world went black.

-o-o-o-

The assassins burned like a dozen candles, and Lucina winced against the heat.

"H-hey? Luci? You're ok right?" Morgan blocked some of the heat when he stepped in front of her, offering a hand.

"Morgan... we need to get out." Lucina kept her eyes fixed ahead. Not on the ceiling above, not on the walls to either side, and ESPECIALLY not on how they felt close and choking. Her shoulder throbbed hard, and her skin twitched and writhed when something stirred underneath her flesh.

Morgan loomed over her, unaware of the soft glimmer settling around his form, the violet-blue aura holding the walls at bay.

"Yeah, I know. Trust me, we'll hold the line and get everyone-"

"No," the word squeezed itself out between her teeth. "Morgan, I mean that WE need to get out. NOW."

She clapped her hand around his shoulder as she spoke, and he saw the blue glow seeping out of it. The light traced its way up her arm, echoing the aura settling around his shoulders.

"...O-oh." Was all Morgan could give, before wincing as his marked shoulder gave a twinge. "Why... why now, though?"

Lucina shivered, and Morgan snapped his head back and forth.

"On second thought, don't answer that. Just stay with me; we'll take the lead and fight our way through. Promise-?" he was babbling, and as he did, with each breath he took, his outline shimmered that little bit more, that little bit brighter. It pulsed in time to what had to be a frantic heartbeat working its way through his chest.

It must have been a match for how fast her own heart was pounding. Lucina looked past it, to where the world had dimmed outside of the glow.

She swore for a moment she saw a second, glimmering outline at the back of the group. Running towards them. Carrying something that could have calmed her heartbeat a little, if she let it-

 _'No. I can't go calm now. Calm doesn't win battles or save people.'_

She didn't want to wait for Robin or Chrom just then. Not when the wind shifted again and teased at her senses. Lucina just dipped her head in a nod and pulled Morgan up and onto his feet. She'd worry about her parents, about the strange power burning in her blood and the call outside... she'd worry about all of it later.

There was still a small force between her and the way out. Thankfully, she and Morgan were more than equal to it. They cut a path of red through the ranks, leaving behind a coppery scent that burned at Lucina's senses. She was moving fast, she knew... but Morgan was also being driven by the same power and drive. She saw how his head snapped up to the sky outside.

The last of the Plegian soldiers fell before them, leaving just the general. He sneered something out at them, hefting an axe up. Taunting them to stay.

Neither of them waited for him to finish. Morgan shot a gout of flame at the general, which the man had to bring his axe up against. When he tried to lower it, Lucina was already on top of him. Falchion crashed down hard on the axe blade, wrenching the weapon free.

Outside the night air screamed for her to take the last steps. Her hand gave one last pulse, before lashing out. As it plunged into the general's throat, scales and talons sheathed the limb, twisting its shape into something that wasn't human. Lucina didn't even flinch at the damage, or how the general's life was snuffed out. What mattered was that they'd done it. They'd opened the way and were free to-

"LUCINA!" Chrom's voice screamed out, forcing Lucina and Morgan to both turn and face him. Chrom was dashing towards both of them, heedless of the bodies or how his own form was glowing; the difference between him and his children was that his own aura was just a faint line. Lucina stared down at her hand, and noticed with confusion that the light was lashing out almost like flames.

"Gods-! Don't give in, either of you!" Her father's voice rang out, and Lucina's eyes slid towards him. His eyes were fixed on them both, peering over the edge of the Fire Emblem.

And for just a moment, the drive to leap out into the air dimmed. So did the aura cloaking her and Morgan, the colors fading out. Chrom came to a halt next to both of them, breathing hard. Next to him and the Emblem, her heart slowed for just a moment.

Just long enough for a new voice to cut through the air.

"So much running and struggling. I'd so hoped to see your children give in to their heritage… But no matter. None of you can fight off your fate forever." Chrom jolted up, looking around wildly... but turning too slowly, as a dark rent in the air opened behind him.

Validar stepped through the opening, as magic lashed from his hands at all of them. And Lucina's flesh burned again.

-o-o-o-

A blast of pain tore across his back, yanked his balance out, and sent Chrom crashing to the floor. The spell tore rents in his side first, and once it had its fill with him cut through the room in a black shadow. From his new spot on the floor Chrom saw the magic snap into Lucina and Morgan, throwing them to the palace stones as well.

Chrom tried to push himself onto his hands and knees. He'd crawl to them if he had to... but all he could manage was a twitch along his arms and fingers. Dark magic burned through him, leaving his limbs like lead and his body limp on the ground.

"Still fighting." Validar's voice slid into his ear; the sorcerer stood between him and his children, watching them both. "Why waste your energy, Exalt. I've won, easily. I won the moment you split your focus and your forces."

At his words, the miasma around him grew solid, forming a second portal. Validar reached towards it, and yanked his hand back out; his fingers were buried in cloth, and he drew someone out of the vortex-

"MOTHER!" Lucina yelped out. Robin hung slack in Validar's grip, but lifted her head up at Lucina's voice. Her eyes were glazed and her motions weak… but still she turned her head to Lucina. Validar watched her reaction with distant interest.

"Ah yes... your own brood. I had high hopes for them; they have just as much dragon blood in them as you or Robin. The blood still sings in them, even if they lack the heart..." He twisted his fingers up as he spoke, and Lucina and Morgan howled in pain. Chrom could only watch as dark magic coursed through them, sending their muscles into spasms as their bodies twisted and curled in from pain.

Robin's head snapped up at their voices, fury twisting across her features.

But she couldn't move. Not anymore than he could.

"They listened to my summons to draw them out into the open well enough... but I see they still cling to their bonds to you. Maybe the loss of the Emblem will help them to awaken to the true side of the family." Chrom gripped at the shield, and Lucina and Morgan both fought and failed to get to their feet. Validar's spell crackled around them, keeping them both pinned to the floor.

"You won't take it!" Chrom lashed out; his words were all he had at the moment, and he planned to use them however he could.

"I won't need to do a thing. Isn't that right, Robin?"

Validar released her as he spoke, dropping Robin to her feet. She sagged forward, giving out a strangled noise. Her hands clapped over her head, digging into her hair as she yanked her head back and forth.

"Robin!?" Chrom shouted out, but his words couldn't get past the strangled cries forcing their way out of her throat.

"M-my head!" She choked out, before her hands fell away. There was a slackness to the motion that chilled his blood.

She lifted her head up, and took a step towards him. Right away, there was something off in her motions, like she was getting pulled and manipulated by invisible threads.

He saw her eyes for a moment as she stretched her hands out and rested them on the Fire Emblem. The irises were shrunk to pinpricks, wide with terror... and the only thing she could control. The rest of her jerked and shook as Validar closed his hand into a fist. She yanked the Emblem free from his arm, turning and taking a few more jerking steps to Validar.

"Well done, my child." He half crooned, taking the shield from her. His other hand brought up Sable from his robe sleeves, pressing it into the last socket. "And at last, we have a complete artifact. You've done wonders for Plegia, and Grima. And now all that remains is the Dragon's Table."

Through the pain, a memory flashed up; tales of an ancient ruin in Plegia, sealed atop dragons.

"What do you... what are you talking about?" Chrom rasped out.

"The Awakening isn't limited to just Naga. With this, I can easily call Grima into this world. I knew you would serve me well, Robin... willingly or not."

Robin shuddered as Validar looked over her, her body still out of her control. All she could do was glare as he smiled at her.

Chrom just noticed the purple outline pulsing along her form, a second before it erupted into violet flames. Robin screamed as her body shifted into a half form, snapping out of one shape and out of Validar's control for just an instant. She swung at him with a clawed hand-

Validar snapped his own up, catching her around the wrist. His fingers sank into the scaled flesh with a vicious, uncanny amount of strength. In his other hand, the Emblem gems glimmered and pulsed with power. Robin threw her head back to scream from the pain, but no sound came out; just like that, Validar had sunk his fingers back into her mind.

There were two more red flecks in her cheeks, and he heard a strange tearing sound as Robin fought in Validar's grip. Her body shifted a little more, for all the good it did her... and with a wet sound, the red specks in her face grew a little larger as flesh peeled away.

"A valiant effort..." His voice trailed off as he looked over her, and Validar's features twisted into a frown and a scowl. His hand dropped Robin's wrist and snapped around her throat, forcing her face closer to his so he could look at her.

-o-o-o-

Validar's nails reopened the scratches in her neck… and unlike Excellus, he didn't flinch from the heat.

"...All this time, and you've only opened two more eyes. And even then, just a handful of times." Validar's bright red gaze cut into hers, piercing through the blur and shadows taking over her vision. "I'm not certain if I should be disgusted over your lack of ambition, or praise you for extraordinary willpower."

"Wh-what...?" Her voice went rough as she tried to speak.

"I can do you one favor in return for your service, however unwilling. And show you just how blind you've been, and how you've limited yourself." Validar's hand twisted up so it covered her face, the long fingers turning into bars across her vision. "Robin... _open your eyes."_

All the aches, pains, and tension in her body paled at those last three words... and what they summoned up. When Validar spoke she felt his fingers dig into her skin. Pain branched out of them and ran in strips down her face, burning holes into her cheeks that spread out wider and wider. The world turned brighter as well, searing into her brain. The world spun around her as her vision desperately tried to focus on it.

Robin tried to shut her eyes, to see if that would help.

Except her vision didn't go black. She could still see Validar staring at her, admiring his handiwork. The muscles in her face writhed in a way that felt like her eyelids were twitching instead.

The last bits of adrenaline burned out, in favor of cold dread as she felt the extra eyes in her face squirming around. Robin's first eyes jolted back open.

She felt new eyes opening along her face. Two, then a third. And with it a wave of churning, drowning anger burned out of her heart and tried to smother her-

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Morgan screamed out, and Validar's hand fell away. Robin crumbled to the floor. The castle was distorted, too many points of vision in her face trying to focus.

But she could see Morgan, half changed, throwing himself at Validar with a pained, frenzied howl. His form was half shifted, just like hers.

' _He saw what I did-'_ And was trying to repeat it, to greater effect.

Validar barely ducked away from Morgan's claws. The sorcerer raised his hand, already calling up another crackle of dark energy to bury in Morgan's shoulder blades-

Only for a wordless scream to split the air. Robin looked up the same time Validar did, and saw Lucina dropping out of the air, ready to bury her sword in his neck.

She never got the chance; he flickered out with a rushed teleportation spell, taking the dark miasma of the hallway with him. Moonlight streamed in through the doorway, into a hall gone abruptly quiet thanks to the battle slamming shut. Lucina dropped to the ground, her wings curling over her form as her eyes glimmered and darted around for anything else that could have been a threat. She and Morgan were both breathing hard.

Robin blinked, and her form shuddered as the rents in her cheeks closed again. Changing back felt like forcing down rotten food, as she drew scales and claws back into her flesh. Morgan and Lucina were struggling as well, shuddering as they fought for clean breaths of air. Robin clawed and crawled her way over to them, raising a shaky hand up to Lucina's face. Her touch did something for her daughter at least, helping Lucina pull her wings back into her body.

"Robin...?" Chrom rasped out, and Robin turned to see him fighting his way to his knees. His arms shook as they held him up... and neither one of them had the Fire Emblem.

The reality of everything crashed back into Robin, as she watched him.

"Wh-what did I do? What happened to me?" No answer to that... or a third question lurking in her mind.

What would happen to all of them, now?


	59. Tatters

**Chapter 59: Tatters**

Lissa was growing to hate the desert. Or if she was being ambitious, all of Plegia. Nothing against the people that lived there, but she swore that every time they went into this country, they lost _something._ First it had been Emmeryn, and almost Chrom and Robin. And now-

Now she got to feel like someone was kicking her in the heart every time she looked at Chrom and Robin. And no amount of healing spells would help with that. The same when she looked at Morgan and Lucina.

Not that she could afford to throw healings around like bread crumbs for birds. They were in short supply right now, and she was amazed that the staff she held in her hands hadn't snapped in half from overuse.

As it was, the staff managed a soothing glow, closing up wounds on the patient in front of her. In a few more seconds, the fresh blood was little more than a messy memory.

"Okay, that should do it." Lissa finished her healing with a sigh, hoping her own dour mood wouldn't have an impact on the spells. Since Vaike was able to roll his shoulder without a wince, she counted that as a success. There'd been others before him, and mending their wounds had passed in a blur. "Anyone else left?"

"Pfah. You think I'd go to you if someone else needed more healing? I'm tougher than that." Vaike pointed out, while Lissa rolled her eyes at the usual bluster. But he had a point, for all his bravado. And got her to smile a little; that was becoming a rare treat for her.

' _It all comes back to how bad of a shape we're in.'_ She thought, dusting the sand off her skirts and turning to the convoy. Back where the rest of her family was, and where she'd likely get another kick in the chest when she saw them.

…And it wasn't _just_ that her extended family looked beaten down, or tired or fraying at the edges. It was how much they tried to look like everything was okay. And how they never completely succeeded, because just beneath that front Lissa could tell that everything was anything _but_ okay; it was in the way Chrom's hands kept balling into fists when he thought no one was looking. Or how Robin's eyes never stopped darting around, even when she held her head high.

And it was especially clear in how they drew up battle plans. Where once the Shepherds had Chrom and his family as heavy hitters, now they were forced to the back. And the rest of the forces suffered for it, as the fresh wounds demonstrated.

"Okay… I know we just came off a fight," Chrom was at the front of the line, and having his own small struggle as he tried to meet everyone's eyes. The guilt of staying off the front lines was clearly getting to him, trying to weigh his head down. "But right now, the most important thing is for us to keep going. Before anyone else keys in on our location and sends more."

The Risen seemed to be circling their group like carrion crows now. Lissa had counted, and they couldn't manage more than a day or two without the corpses popping up to attack and wear away at their defenses. And again, they paid the price of relying so much on their leaders.

Without the Emblem, Chrom and Robin were forced to the backlines.

And it was clear just how much they hated every second of that.

"I'm sorry… Again. But I promise, we'll get a chance to recover from… From everything that happened. Soon." Chrom gave up on looking at other people, instead giving a slow turn and helping to pack up supplies and get the horses ready for another trek across the desert. Robin was little more than a shadow at his side.

Lissa had caught a few snatches of where they were going; that there was an oasis nearby, and if they could just reach it, then they could make camp for a few days and gather their feet again.

And hopefully be out of range of Validar doing… whatever it was he did, the last time. The same could have crossed Robin's mind, with how her eyes lingered on Chrom's bare arm. Even the fine crafted gauntlets didn't lend much to his armor, making him look underdressed. And unprepared for any fighting.

' _But we'll be fine soon. We won't have to dwell on any of that. Won't we?'_

Lissa found herself clinging to that hope, just as much as she did to the staff. And tried to tell herself to put on a brave face if she found herself in Chrom or Robin's company… and to at least join them in acting like everything was okay.

Even if it wasn't.

-o-o-o-

The capital was days behind them now… and worryingly there wasn't much in the way of Plegian pursuit. Their main point of worry was the Risen, hounding each step.

At least those steps were growing less sandy. Each sunrise came on richer land, with the beginnings of scrub brush and grass. A wane green washed over the desert, teasing that Ylisse was closer… even if their business remained in Plegia. And left them with targets painted on their backs.

' _Validar isn't bothering to send his men after us… likely because he already has everything he needs.'_ Dull as her nails were, they still threatened to draw blood with how Robin balled her fists together.

"H-hey…" Chrom tried to say, only to trail off. He clearly wanted to comfort her, but was not sure of how… and he trailed off when someone else hailed them.

"Reporting in with an update!" Anna said, waving to them with a good arm. "Relaying messages mostly; our guys up front are holding up ok, but hoping to make camp soon,"

She rattled off a few more details, as Robin automatically nodded.

Anna was making the most of the new bandage and patch decorating her face, along with the sling covering her arm. Lissa's reassurance rang in Robin's ears; that with a few more days of healing, the merchant would be back to normal with two working eyes and arms.

"Are you-?" Robin still found herself asking, only for Anna to wave her off with her good arm.

"Healing up okay. Though… if you could assign someone else to command that would be preferred, the next time we need to cut our way out of a capital. I deal in prices and supplies, not micro managing people."

"I'll see what I can do." Robin answered, and found herself looking back at Frederick. The knight was still mending as well, and it seemed like the injuries were only increasing.

' _This wouldn't be a problem if we could just get back to the front lines.'_ She thought, glancing at Chrom. The way he glowered at the sand made it clear the same thing was going through his head. _'We could help carry the fight-'_

And risk changes that they couldn't revert back from. Her nails dug into her palms at that, only releasing when a hand rested on her shoulder.

It wasn't Chrom, to her shock; instead Say'ri held her hands on Robin and Chrom, both. The red stained bandages on her arms didn't rob her grip of any strength. And she met both of their gazes with an even, measured expression.

"Mind your thoughts, and don't give into rashness." She said without preamble, before shaking her head with a sigh. "…I don't mean to give you orders, only advice. Because I've had to deal with something of the same. And I've learned that rushing into things doesn't help."

"…I know," Robin said, right as Chrom said the same. Both of them started at the other's voice.

' _Guess we're on the same level, at least.'_

"Good to see you both know that," Say'ri gave them a brief smile, tired as it was. "If you'll permit a little more advice… perhaps since you both understand, you can talk to each other a little further. In the meantime, I can continue scouting ahead." With that, she went to the front of the lines, to relieve Lon'qu, Vaike, and Gregor.

"So… do you want to talk a little? And spend some time outside of your head?" Chrom offered, keeping his voice gentle.

"I'm not sure if you'd like what all IS going on inside of my head." Robin answered. She hated the grumble in her words, but it still did nothing to dull Chrom's earnest gaze. The sullen thoughts in her head couldn't hold up against that look.

"Chrom… I'm sorry. About everything; it feels like only a short while ago we were near complete victory. And now we've had all of it snatched away, because of _me._ What I did-"

She stopped short when his fingers touched her chin.

"Robin… there's nothing to forgive. That wasn't you, back there. I saw you resist him with everything you had. And he never had full control of you." She hadn't quite yet shed any tears over his assurances, but his thumb still traced over her cheek. The cloth of his glove rubbed at spots along her face, where eyes had once opened. Robin fought back a shudder at the memory.

"…But… the fact he could use me, the blood in me… how do we know he won't use that same control again?"

' _How can you still trust me?'_ She didn't voice the last… but her eyes narrowed, trying and failing to conceal the hurt of that thought. And Chrom didn't miss any of it.

"What's done is done, Robin. But we're not finished just yet; we can still mount the counter attack, and undo what Validar inflicted. It's not too late."

Robin simply leaned into him at that, bumping her forehead into his cheek. For just a moment, she promised herself; just a moment to lean against him, and find some strength in his presence.

Besides that, she could pick out their camp ground against the setting sun. The sand had faded out in favor of grass, and even a few sparse flowers bloomed and reached towards a violet and scarlet sky.

' _It's okay to wait a little, given that.'_ Robin told herself, sighing against Chrom and closing her eyes-

A lance of pain landed between her eyes, vertigo slamming hard into her head; she wasn't just leaning against Chrom for emotional support now. His arm tightened around her shoulders, his breath coming out in a shocked gasp.

"Robin, what's-?"

Red splashed Robin's vision when she opened her eyes. The camp ground was obscured now by shadows… shadows that crawled across the grass and had no clouds to cast them.

"R-Risen!" Robin choked out. And another wave of magic swept over her, pushing points of white hot heat into her face. "And… and whatever or whoever called these things into being isn't far off!"

-o-o-o-

The call to arms swept through their ranks. Lissa tried not to let her frustration show, either in gritted teeth or an eye roll… or allow an aggravated sigh to slip past her teeth.

"Really can't catch a break here, can we." She allowed herself that one mutter under her breath. It helped her keep up with the front line, rushing into the Risen. She caught glimpse of blades hacking into corpses with a strength that only came from the desperate… or the extremely angry and frustrated. She was surprised there wasn't a rallying cry of "give us a break!"

A horse rumbled past her, and Lissa flinched out of the charging path.

"H-hey, what do you think you're-!?" She tried to yelp out. But that protest dried up in her mouth once she caught the blue and silver armor on the horse and the rider.

"FREDERICK!" She managed to scream out instead, and put plenty of outrage and confusion into the name. She also surprised herself with just how much strength was left in her legs, as she went charging after him.

Not that either her shouting or running convinced Frederick to slow down. How he managed to stay in the saddle with a healing leg was a mystery to Lissa. Maybe that death grip he had on a spear somehow helped with that, and gave him something to concentrate on apart from the pain that had to be rattling through his knee.

In the corner of her eye Lissa glimpsed Sumia and Cordelia strafing the ranks, letting a few javelins fly into the Risen… and being entirely too occupied to worry about what Frederick was doing.

That meant Frederick was free to level a spear on his target, as his horse punched through the ranks with lashing hooves. Lissa followed the line of his attack, trying to figure out what he was so focused on.

A familiar tangle of robes met her eyes, and for a moment Lissa froze.

' _Validar-?'_ But a second blink showed that no, it wasn't the same dark mage. This one wore robes of a more ragged cut, as though ravaged by magic. That same magic crackled at his fingertips, tinged with a familiar violet black fire… and with each pulse of the magic, a few more dark shadows traced along the ground. Cruel, hooked claws erupted from the dirt, Risen tearing themselves free with a shower of soil and grass.

"Well, that explains where these things are coming from-" Lissa managed, before realizing that her feet had stalled out. And Frederick hadn't noticed, or slowed down for her.

He HAD tried to rush the mage, and was rewarded with a blast of dark fire that sent his horse rearing. He fought to control the animal and keep his leg steady in the stirrups, blind to the Risen rushing in to flank him.

' _I'd give a lot to have an axe instead of a healing stave right about now!'_ Lissa settled on that for her mental battle cry, throwing herself forward to try and cover Frederick's flank. Her voice came out in a yelp as she lifted the stave up, and she swore she heard the splintering of wood. But the stave still held against the swiping claws, even as Lissa was driven back from the force of the strike. She fetched up against the side of the horse, Frederick giving a grunt where she bumped against his leg.

"L-little help!?" She shouted, and he laid about with his spear. One Risen lost its head, another misplaced an arm… but there was no end to them, and the corpses formed a wall between them and the mage.

"Actually, LOT OF HELP!" Lissa called out.

-o-o-o-

A low burn settled in Chrom's brain and muscles, trying to spur him into action. Chrom balled his hands into fists instead, digging his feet into the ground and trying not to wince or choke on his frustration when the others rushed by. Into a battle that he couldn't follow.

Robin bumped her shoulder against his, giving a low growl under her breath. A shiver traveled through her form, showing how much willpower she had to burn to stay in one spot. Just like him.

"I don't know how long I can keep doing this…" Chrom growled, wincing at the needles dancing along his skin. If his flesh didn't give way, likely his temper and control would instead-

"HELP!" A familiar voice pierced the din of battle, sending shocks through Chrom's back.

"…Lissa…" Chrom whispered out. Fire shot into him, all consuming spurring his limbs into motion. A part of him screamed to stop, to hold back… but that part couldn't compare to the panic and Lissa's terrified cries.

"Face me, coward!" His voice was more roar than words… but it did the job of drawing the attention of the Risen. His feet crushed the gap with just a few long strides. Behind him he caught a blur of blue; Morgan and Lucina trying to follow him… and then held back by a flash of light, and a silver dragon mantling its wings around them.

Good. Let Tiki look after them, because just then his vision had narrowed; only the Risen, and the glimpse of a gold dress through their ranks, mattered.

The Risen were like clumsy puppets in front of him, their movements even slower than usual. Far too slow to turn and face him, leaving Chrom free to draw the steel blade at his side and drive it into the first corpse.

A gout of black blood splashed across his arm and face. It was like sinking into hot water, chasing any lingering fatigue out of his body and replacing it with adrenaline. He threw the corpse off the blade and the side, not contemplating or flinching from the ruin of the thing's chest.

Instead he crashed the sword pommel into a revenant, the hood masking the sound and feel of breaking bones. It was enough to drop a man, but not the monster before him-

A violent lash of thunder, on the other hand, was. It gouged a hole through the Risen, piercing the ranks of corpses beyond and leaving a gap in the ranks for Chrom to shoulder through.

"MOVE!" Robin's voice blared in his ear, her hand falling on his shoulder to push him forward-

Landing on his scarred shoulder, and the touch wrenched Chrom forward and away from her fingers. He fought to keep from showing his teeth, and somehow found words instead.

"N-not going to tell me this is a bad move?" He gasped out, fighting for breath as they dashed towards the screams.

"Not now I'm not! Lissa comes first-" Robin grit out between her teeth, a wild glow settling into her eyes. In the setting sun, they looked almost red… and entirely focused on the figures ahead of them.

Frederick's horse was clear sight, lashing out with hooves at the Risen, while Lissa tried to keep clear of the Risen… but the rents and bloodstains on her sleeves showed how mixed her efforts were. The barding of Frederick's horse was streaked with soot from spell fires.

And beyond them, stood a mage. Clad in what looked like high robes of his order, rotted as they were at the hem. He still lived… but also seemed a match for the Risen he commanded.

The entire sight spurred Chrom forward with a wild howl.

It didn't cause the mage to so much as flinch. Instead he turned and melted from the path of Chrom's sword, standing a foot away with a rictus grin.

"Validar… sends his regards." The mage whispered, around a throat that seemed half rotted. He was heedless of the fires searing his flesh; he seemed little more than a conduit for the Risen-

But with plenty of fire left over, to lob at Chrom. Chrom scrambled to bring his sword up in time, the impact and heat from the spell warping the steel. A few stray marks of flame bounced off the blade, blackening his clothing. Chrom winced from the impact, but held his ground.

"What else does Validar want!?" Chrom snapped at the man.

"Your humanity would suffice." The mage answered. "Seeing as you left with it intact. Not quite according to his plans." A risen spear grazed Chrom's side, and his blood seared out the opening. He gasped against the pain, whirling around to slash at the thing.

His blade was warped by magic, and it was more brute force than anything else that robbed the Risen of its sword arm. It sank back into mist, only for another to take its place.

The mage gave a dry throated cackle at Chrom's state, and as more Risen closed around the four figures.

"So you were little more than bait and a hound…" Frederick growled, trying to strike with his spear and give Chrom breathing room.

"A purpose I gladly fulfill, in service to Grima." The mage raised his hand again, calling a spell to life and leveling it on Chrom. The fire picked out rotted holes in his face, yet he still grinned when he saw how Chrom shuddered under the heat of the spell-

"Not going to happen." Robin answered, and a growl of thunder shook the air. Chrom threw himself to the side, and a bolt of lightning traveled through his place. It slammed into the sorcerer, freezing him in place as his eyes widened in disbelief.

That didn't keep him from launching his spell, lobbing it past the space Chrom had stood and blazing towards Robin.

Robin snarled in pain, the mage's spell gaining a grazing slash along her collarbone, enough to mar the cloth and strike skin… but there was no returning spell, showing that Robin's aim had been far more true than his.

Robin let her breath out in a huff, her spell book falling to her side. Even with his eyes off it, the pages crackled loud in Chrom's ears; the paper was growing brittle, more and more energy sapped from the spell tome.

But it still had some life in it, more than what could be said for their opponents.

All around them, the Risen turned to little more than shadows and ash, as the mage fell to his knees and went still.

"Well…" Chrom wheezed, sinking to his knees in the ash. "We… we won, didn't we?"

"Little last minute when it comes to rescue, but yes." Lissa answered, sagging a little.

"We're not going to have anymore Risen to worry about, for the time being." Robin stood over the charred robes of the Plegian dark mage. "That mage was the one calling them up… and more proof of what sort of powers Plegia has been tapping."

"Gh-Good-" Chrom tried to say, stopped short by a hacking cough taking over his throat and lungs. He brought his hand up to his chest, fingers finding blackened cloth. The motion froze Robin in place, and spurred Lissa forward.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She whispered, fingers going to blackened cloth.

"I- I don't…" Chrom wheezed, and the strain in his breath broke whatever fear held Robin in place. She rushed to his side, hands resting on both of his shoulders. The touch eased his breathing for a moment, long enough for him to speak. "I don't know. I thought I parried his spells-"

That half melted sword was proof of that, wasn't it?

But going by the gasp Lissa gave, that wasn't entirely true. She brushed aside the charred ruins of his shirt, as Chrom tried to rub at his sternum. His fingers touched something hard and glossy, and his eyes caught glimpse of silver and blue.

"Ah, gods-" He winced out, realizing what was squeezing at his chest, and exactly why his breathing was so strained.

"TIKI!" Lissa shouted, summoning the manakete to her side. A few fresh cuts showed on her skin, but Tiki ignored them. Her focus was reserved only for Chrom. "Mind explaining what's going on here!?"

Tiki narrowed her eyes. A worrisome silence followed, until she shook her head.

"You should have remained on the backlines, Chrom. I fear what this may have cost you." She stood up, rubbing at her forehead. Chrom scowled at her words.

"Was I supposed to stay back and watch Lissa and Frederick die?" That prompted a sigh from Tiki.

"No, of course not. I just wish… that there'd been a way this played out differently. We can't reverse these changes, without the Emblem. You'll have to carry them, until we confront Validar." At her words, Chrom spread his fingers over his heart. His palm enveloped the patch of scales, unyielding under his grip and unwilling to recede back into his skin.

"…Then I'll just have some extra armor over my heart. That's how it goes."

"For me as well." Robin murmured, fingers grazing her collar bone. A slash of purple scales followed the motion of her hand. And that sight tugged at Chrom's heart, in a way his own scales didn't.

"We'll be a matching pair for the time being." She tried to continue, half joking. "And at least now we can make camp without fear."

"Aye…" Chrom said. And didn't miss the way Lissa finally slumped in relief. With luck, they'd regain their breath… And perhaps after some rest, he'd ask on why she seemed uneasy. It was a look he saw echoed in the faces of others… and particularly in his daughter, who had just reached them, but still hung back. A haunting look lingered on Lucina's face. Though perhaps it was only the same fatigue that gripped all of them.

At least, that was what Chrom hoped.


	60. Nothing To Forgive

**Chapter 60: Nothing to Forgive**

Lucina once again stood alone, exposed to an open and smoke stained sky. A hot wind stung at her eyes, and lashed her hair back. A crackle of fire scoured at her ears, and painted her skin a ruddy orange. Something massive flew through the sky, and even with fires blazing all around her, Lucina's blood ran cold.

A black dragon circled above her, wings stretched out and made of moonless night. Its eyes were a familiar, glaring red and focused entirely on her. But this time it didn't lash out at her. Instead it howled as it flew, a strange haunting song, that called out to her. Coaxing her to join it, not fight against it.

With an empty sky above her and fire burning all around her, Lucina couldn't figure out a reason why she should have stayed bound to the ground, or stuck in a weak human form. It wasn't as though she could do anything like this, her power all shut behind feeble human flesh.

She stretched her head back and let the heat burn all the way into her blood. Her flesh stretched and tore as a new shape uncoiled inside of her.

 _'NO!'_ the thought came a moment too late. She didn't _truly_ want to do this. didn't want to join against the thing that had caused all of this. But the thought came too late as her form melted away-

The pain in her body centered around her hand and eye, and Lucina jolted into the waking world. Her unmarked hand clutched at her head, trying to hold back the ache lancing into her eye. A cold sweat drenched her, adding to the shakes moving through her muscles. Time slipped by as she curled in her cot, riding out the worst of the pain. Her breath came out in sobs, until finally she pulled herself up and reached for a flask of water to help her throat; it had gone parched from fear.

Steadying her breathing, Lucina pulled her hand away and saw that the walls of the tent had taken on a soft blue light. Dawn was on the way.

That should have made her feel some relief, chased away the last of the nightmare. Instead she shuddered and felt her eye squint.

The six eyed mark on her hand sent out a faint glow, trying to rouse. Lucina balled her hand into a fist instead, and glared down at it until the stirring in her hand and eye both began to fade.

Morgan groaned and tossed in his bedroll. Nearby she could pick out the sleeping forms of Owain; Cynthia had opted to room with them as well, and with all of them came stacks of swords and lances. One sword was left propped against her cot, half drawn from a battered scabbard. The edge on it was starting to go dull.

All around the wear and tear was starting to show. Weapons were losing their edges, and the troops were looking more and more haggard. She'd seen it in even the veteran's eyes as they slumped down each evening around the campfire. They'd been behind enemy lines for weeks, and with each passing day it felt less and less likely that they'd see Ylisse again.

She hated being like this. Being forced into the back of the lines because they lacked the Emblem and the gemstones to control the dragons. But Frederick had been insistent, and Lucina was sure that even a healing leg wouldn't stop him from dragging them back.

' _That is if Mother or Father didn't catch wind of it first. I don't think they'd be anymore tolerant.'_

She was terrified of the handful of times they HAD been forced to fight. Even Chrom was struggling to hold onto his human form. If the Shepherds were fraying at the edges, then her own family was burning apart.

And each evening she had nightmares to deal with. Lucina drew a shaky hand over her head, hating how she shook like a dried out leaf. What was going to happen the next time they had to fight? What about when they faced Validar?

...What if she couldn't hold onto herself, the next time the situation demanded her to fight? Lucina pounded her fist against the side of the cot, biting back a curse. The impact made her sword rattle loose, and smacked to a stop against her knee. It stopped her worrying short for a moment, looking at the sword and scabbard.

The cobbled together Falchion still had a place of esteem, resting by her side.

Her new sword was a poor echo of the legendary blade. Looking at it, she could see notches along the edge where Tiki's spell was beginning to fade. But... it was still sharp enough. Enough for the desperate idea that took hold in her head. Lucina closed her hands around the sword, rising from her cot and looking the outside world.

' _It's the only thing I can think of.'_ She told herself, trying to convince her hands to stop shaking.

And it was the only clear path she could see out of the darkness.

-o-o-o-

Sleep eluded her husband more and more; the same could easily be said for Robin. Both of them felt the absence of the Emblem, and it seeped into their dreams. Nightmares were becoming a regular visitor, ones that drove them into the other's arms. And today, spurred them both into early activity.

"Still no word back..." she'd told him. Chrom had traced his fingers along her cheek in answer, brushing her hair back; reminding her that he'd hold out as long as it took for her plan to come together.

Robin just wished it would happen sooner. After promising to meet him over breakfast, Robin found herself walking the perimeter of the camp. Still hoping for a messenger to turn up, and let her know the plan was finally in motion.

She came across nothing of the sort, however. Just sentries on duty, or an open field. Their one blessing was that they'd finally stumbled into one of the few, fertile areas of Plegia. A good place for trying to relax, with the smell of fresh grass and fragile desert flowers. Robin moved through the field with her eyes shut, letting the sigh of grass against her robe, and the scent of dew fill her senses.

When she opened her eyes, it was to the sight of someone else in the field. Robin instantly marked the blue hair. The early dawn light picked out a thread of gold woven through her hair and pushing it all back.

"Lucina," Robin moved towards her, hand out. "What has you up so early?"

"...Troubles, I'm afraid." Robin paused midstep, wondering over how Lucina didn't meet her eyes. When she tried to reach out to her daughter, Lucina moved away, her shoulders hunched in close. The faint blue to pink light of pre-dawn picked out dark circles under Lucina's eyes. Much like herself Robin wondered if Lucina had simply thrown on her clothes and cloak, right after rolling out of bed.

"Mother, I... I need to tell you something. About Father." That easily stuck Robin in her place, listening as Lucina slowly picked out her words.

"About why I need to stay this course…" That came out as little more than a murmur, and seemed half like Lucina was talking to herself. Before Robin could ask what she meant, Lucina found the rest of her voice.

"I-I never knew much of him, or you outside of faint memories; you both died when I was very young. But people spoke so fondly of him. And I... I wanted you back. I always hoped that someday I'd wake up, and you both would be alive again and cheating death. Morgan always made up stories like that, and I half believed in them." Lucina kept her head low, and all at once Robin wondered over how heavy that royal circlet must have been on her head. How young Lucina must have been to accept it, and the burdens of Exalt. "I don't think I ever measured up in Father's place. I wasn't the same Exalt as he was; I couldn't even stop the Risen."

"You shouldn't blame-"

"Please... let me say my piece." Lucina begged, her voice going thick. The raw emotion in her throat was enough to still Robin's words. "When Naga gave me the opportunity to go back and make things right, I was ready. Even if it undid my own time and made me an... orphan of time, as Validar put it. That didn't matter, if I could save you and Father. See you both alive and well. "

There was something in Lucina's voice that squeezed at Robin's heart, and drove her to ease the hurt in her daughter.

"Lucina, I apologize for repeating it, but I truly mean this; Chrom and I are blessed to have children like you. You truly love Chrom as family, as much as I do." Lucina glanced up at her, tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I always told myself any sacrifice would be worth that; ensuring safety for my parents, and for our people. And now I need to hold myself to those words… and remind myself that any price is not too dear." All while Lucina spoke, her hands stayed tight against her sides. Only now did they twitch, and drew Robin's eye. She wondered over the lack of gloves Lucina usually favored, until she drew the blade at her side.

"Mother... I'm so sorry. But I know what I'm about to do cannot be forgiven." Falchion stretched out between the two, glimmering in the faint light. Lucina held the blade in a shaking hand, forcing herself to take deep breaths until the blade hung steady in the air. But with all of that, Robin couldn't figure out why it was leveled right at her heart.

"Lucina!? What-?"

"Stay where you are, Mother!" Lucina's voice cracked around the words.

"This is the last option I have. I... I must kill you." She must have seen the disbelief, the confusion spreading across Robin's face. "I know now what happened in my future. You... you kill Chrom."

Robin's head was already shaking back and forth, and Robin wanted to voice all the reasons that was impossible-

But her memories kept her quiet. Her night flight from so long ago that Chrom had been forced to pull her back from. The way Validar had dug his talons into his head to do his bidding… and the nightmares still plaguing her sleep.

"I wasn't certain how that could be, until now. I'd heard that Father was killed by his dearest companion, but I couldn't believe it... not with what little I remembered, and what I saw for myself when you were together. But the skirmish in Plegia made it all clear. Validar's hold on you... it will be what drives you to take Father's life."

She remembered the horrible thud of spell meeting flesh in her dreams, the shake that started in her hand and spread through her entire arm. Lucina could have had the same shake, the same agony racing through her with how her sword arm wavered.

"I-I wish there was another way! But if this is what it takes to change our fate, then... please, if you love Chrom, then let this be done." She squinted at Robin through teary eyes. Waiting for her mother to object, to say something in answer.

"I know." Robin whispered out, and Lucina's twitched open a little wider. "I've... dreamed of it, before. More than once. And the visions in my dreams feel like they've been growing clearer and clearer. I worry that the moment in them is fast approaching... and I would do anything to save my family from it."

And maybe all the plans she'd made… maybe they were nothing, in the face of that looming fate. The darkest of her thoughts reminded Robin that despite their efforts, Emmeryn had still died. And now, thanks to Robin herself, they'd lost the Emblem. History seemed determined to cling to the original route.

' _But there might be one desperate way to stop it.'_

"I would give my life for Chrom, or for you. And if this is how we prevent the future from happening... then I am ready to do so." The words hurt, as did that surrender. Yet they also seemed to lift some of the despair clouding her mind. "I know you'll be quick and sure with the blade, Lucina."

That was one thing she could be certain of. Especially with how tightly Lucina clung to the sword, at her words.

"M-mother,"

"I love you with all my heart," Robin tried to assure her, putting as much peace into her words as she could.

"And with this… we can completely end this potential bleak future. Just don't tie yourself down with regret, and live fully when this is done-" Lucina's eyes squeezed shut, and she flinched from the words. Robin stopped short, watching her. The peace she'd settled into her heart shivered and retreated in the face of a strange, crawling dread.

"Lucina... what else are you planning? My death should be enough, shouldn't it...?" Lucina's eyes slipped away for only a moment... but a moment was just enough for Robin to see how Lucina's gaze lingered on her own hand. The blue gloves were missing from it, showing the violet mark on them.

"Lucina!" Robin tried to cross the field, but Lucina only mirrored her steps, retreating back and keeping the sword between them. "Are you truly telling me you plan to take your own life?"

"S-stay where you are. This is what must be done." Lucina's voice squeaked out. "I'll do anything to protect the future. A-anything. What do a few lives matter against that!?"

She all but screamed the last. A part of Robin knew Lucina spoke the truth. But still-

"I have the same fell blood in me. I knew that, when Validar cast his spell. So to keep anything worse from happening, I need to-"

"And what about Morgan?" Lucina flinched from the question.

"M-Morgan could fight it. He shook it off enough to save you. But I... I was at Validar's mercy as well. He has a hold on me, and I don't want to know what he or Grima could force me to do."

Her words were coming out breathy now, a hint of a sob behind them.

"I... I know this is unforgivable. I'd do anything to change this-"

"As would any of us. But..." A moment ago she'd been ready to give her life for her family. And yet she couldn't stand the thought of Lucina doing the same; of what it would do to those who remained. The cynical parts of her mind paled, when Robin realized the hurt it would cause her family. "You, Morgan, Chrom and I... we are a family, and you only get one of those. I'd give my life for you in a heartbeat Lucina... but not if it ends with you feeling more pain."

Lucina shook her head at that, eyes squeezing shut. Tears ran down her face, gleaming where the sun crested the horizon. With Lucina's eyes shut, Robin finally made her move, closing the distance and moving right next to Lucina.

Even wracked with grief, her daughter still had sharp reflexes; the sword twitched in her grip, striking out at where Robin stood before Lucina could open her eyes. When her daughter blinked them open in confusion, she tried to wrench her sword strike aside… but too late to turn it away completely.

Falchion bit into Robin's side, a long line of shallow pain skimming over her ribs. Not deep enough to pierce her lungs... but still enough to bleed. Lucina's breath ripped itself out of her throat, along with a sobbing "No!"

Robin didn't let any of it hold her back. She wrapped her arms around Lucina's shoulders, and drew her in close, hugging her tight. Lucina went rigid from the touch, before the sword dropped from her fingers. It thudded against the grass.

"M-Mother…?" Lucina quavered.

"I'm alright," Lucina almost flinched from the words.

"I-I can't. D-damn me, I can't do it. I love you too much-" she shuddered against Robin, burying her head in her shoulder. One of her hands started to hug Robin, but the other froze when it touched the wound at her side. Robin's breath hissed out, but she still managed words.

"It's alright, Lucina. We're going to be alright... I promise."

"You might be alright; I'm pretty sure you BOTH just scared me out of a year's worth of life." Robin lifted her head at the new voice, and saw Chrom standing a foot away from them. His arm was still outstretched, ready to stop both of them.

"F-father-" Lucina yanked her head up, before ducking it again in shame. "I-"

"No need to explain... I heard all of it, Including the part where you were ready to take your own life. Lucina... your heart may have been in the right place, but do you truly think I'd be able to live without either of you?"

Lucina's cheeks colored with shame, and Chrom gave Robin a hard look as well.

"...I know. We acted selfishly." Robin admitted.

"And recklessly. Don't give up yet. We-" Chrom looked ready to give a speech, only to get shoved aside as a third blue haired person barreled towards Lucina.

"What were you thinking!? You're the once and future Exalt!" Morgan shouted at her. "You're- you're supposed to be _that_ , not dead or… whatever else you were planning. Gods, you think that maybe the next time you think of a plan that dumb- d-desperate I mean, that you run it by me first!?"

He finished, close to sobbing as well. Lucina hung her head, focusing on steadying her breathing when Morgan finished.

"I... I suppose I wasn't fully thinking it all the way through. But Morgan, if you remembered the future then you might-"

"Yeah, well I don't. Luci... you're lucky that Falchion is busted up right now." Morgan grumbled, trying to hide the raw note in his voice. "As it is I'm STILL thinking of using that sword as a royal fruit knife, just to show you how bad this idea was."

"I'm starting to get the idea of that." Lucina muttered. Chrom had recovered from Morgan racing past him, and shook his head as he looked at his family.

"How I ended up with a family of martyrs, I'm not entirely sure." He groaned out. "I realize both of you are ready to do whatever it takes… but I still think this is a bit much."

Despite the scolding in his voice, he still moved closer. When his hands reached out to them, Robin realized how badly they shook; how he'd almost been forced to watch his family die in front of him.

"Well… I think given how much you're willing to risk your own life for our sakes, that makes us about equal, doesn't it?" Robin found herself asking… and earning a grumbling noise from Chrom. "But… I also realize what just happened. And you at least have my word that I won't try something like THAT again any time soon."

"M-mother I'm... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-" Lucina hiccupped out the last words. Robin looked over her, and saw how close Lucina was to breaking. Just as Robin herself had been when the Emblem was first lost. She remembered Chrom's words then, and found herself echoing them now and meaning every word of them.

"My poor girl... there's nothing to forgive."


	61. Light in the Dark

**Chapter 61: Light in the Dark**

The morning dawned red, and the skies stayed blood stained all through the march. Dark clouds swallowed up the sunlight, leaving them wandering through a strange, half lit desert. As far as the eye could see, the clouds choked the sky. Miriel said the air was thick with magic, and Panne remarked she could smell a storm on the horizon.

But as ominous as the weather was, it never broke, leaving them to set up camp under sullen skies. Chrom had the feeling the weather would wait until the perfect moment to unleash all its fury on them. When dealing with spells, it always felt like there was a sense of timing involved.

It was something he could ask Robin about, if he could find her. Camp had been made in the shelter of a dune, well away from any washes or dangers of flash flooding. Picking his way through the tents and campfires, Chrom had been able to account for every Shepherd except for her.

But he had one more guess on where he might find her. Chrom picked his way up the sand dune, to the top of the ridge. Even without stars in the sky, it looked vast; like he could crane his head up and get lost in the clouds overhead. When he reached the top, he saw that Robin was close to doing just that. The hood of her cloak rested over her shoulders, her head tilted up as she stood transfixed. The only motion came from the wind tugging at her robes, and her throat fluttering as it breathed.

"You're not going to fly away on me, are you?" Chrom broke the silence with that, and tugged Robin's attention back to the ground. Her eyes dilated from where they'd flared out, focusing on him as she came back to herself.

"...I thought of it for a moment. It would be easy to just go out into the sky and forget everything else."

"But you've never been one for easy solutions." Chrom's arms closed around her, drawing Robin close to his chest. He felt her breath shiver out, as she leaned against him. For the moment, he was her balance and her strength.

"No, I never have been. But apart from the sky… there's one other thing drawing my attention." He followed her eyes, to a great spire stretching up from the far dunes. Chrom put his focus squarely on it, just picking out broken bit and chinks in the structure. Whatever it was, this place had stood for generations.

"I think… I think I've seen that tower before. In my dreams." Robin continued. "And I can see why, with how much magic seems to be leaking off of it."

"Gods, I feel it too." The way the air was thick with power. The structure beyond felt like it was at the epicenter of their struggles, where everything was leading them to; it was the one place where stars appeared to be piercing the clouds, illuminating it.

"The Dragon's Table..." Robin murmured out. "I've heard the name from Tiki and Frederick, but not much else. I never had the time to read up on it, either."

"It's... where dragons sleep. That's what the stories always said." Chrom told her. Robin's shoulders gave a twitch, and he felt his own tremble. "And it seems the most likely place for Validar to hold his ceremony; both from what he said, and what I can remember."

Robin nodded at that, still frowning at the tower.

"You're scared? I can feel you trembling." He held her a little tighter, as if he could squeeze the shaking out of her.

"I'm _terrified,_ love. I've made all of my plans, but we're still facing any number of variables. Have I really been able to predict Validar? There's no way we can be certain on it." Chrom let go with one hand and let it rest on her head, tracing over her hair.

Dusk fell around them. In the absence of a moon, red lightning flickered across the bottoms of the clouds. It was like the sky had a pulse of its own.

"I almost want to ask you to leave me behind." Robin murmured. "I can't betray you if I'm not there."

"But neither can you fight. And I know doing nothing would drive you mad." Robin sighed out, nodding.

"Yes… I need to fight for our future as well. And staying behind would still be another easy way out." With that she finally pulled away from his hug, and turned back to the camp. "And if we are going to take the fight to Validar… I suppose we'll need some rest."

When they went back to camp, Lucina was waiting for them, Morgan at her side. They both stood outside of Chrom's tent, their expressions anxious.

"...Someone's waiting for you." Morgan kept his voice low. He'd even pulled his hood up, and his eyes moved around restlessly. That was enough to make Chrom pause.

"Whoever it is, they didn't remove their cloak; they just carried a scroll, and it said they would only speak to you and Robin... together." Robin drew in her breath at that.

"Guess it was a good thing I didn't fly away, after all." She murmured, before taking Chrom by the hand and guiding him towards their tent.

-o-o-o-

Robin had only one guess on who could be waiting for them. And all of a sudden the restlessness was back in her limbs. Only this time it wasn't a need to be in the sky, but closed up inside a tent with their visitor.

She moved forward, eyes fixed on the opening tent flap. But for all that, she didn't miss the way Lucina and Morgan both peeled away from the entrance. There was a curious light in their eyes… but Lucina kept her gaze downcast, not wanting to intrude any further. And Morgan seemed content to take her lead.

"Lucina. Morgan." Robin stopped them both short. She dipped her head towards the tent, motioning for them to follow her in. "…No point in keeping you in the dark for any longer."

With the storm outside and night falling, it was darker than the inside of a pocket in the tent. Chrom stirred at Robin's side, tilting his head as he tried to take in the interior. Only an isolated candle on Robin's planning table provided sparse illumination.

' _And we can't afford to light many more, with Gules gone.'_

One mass of shadows stirred, detaching from the darker corners of the tent. The candle flame picked out a single eye looking at them, bright from the reflections of flame.

"Who-?" Lucina whispered, narrowing her eyes… and then holding a hand against her Branded eye. It was likely trying to compensate for the dim light, and giving her a twinge of hurt.

"A very close friend and ally." Robin answered, not surprised that neither of them could recognize him yet. "And… bringing us something we could use."

She relaxed against Chrom as the robed figure brought a hand up, clutching a leather pouch; one that Robin hadn't seen since leaving Valm. Chrom let his breath out in a long sigh when the bag opened, showing a silver gleam.

"Wait, isn't that-?" Lucina gave up trying to identify the newcomer, eyes rooted to the gem.

"…Argent." Chrom whispered. Then louder, he managed. "Thank you… for finding us again. And traveling all this way to meet us; we're truly in your debt for this."

"B-but wait. I thought Argent was taken, along with the Emblem." Morgan pointed out. "But… there's also no mistaking what I feel from that thing. Unless… WAAAIIIT A SECOND!"

Robin favored him with a smile, pleased with how much he was keeping up with things. And with how his eyes lit up, once everything clicked into place. Still, she took care to raise a finger to her lips. "I appreciate you figuring a few things out… but please realize, none of this can leave this tent."

"I still don't-" Lucina's face stayed creased in confusion, trying to fit everything together.

"I… maybe I could explain my hunches to Lucina, outside? I promise that I'll keep it to a whisper." Morgan hurried to say… and Robin gave a nod. It would be worth a little risk, if it eased some of the worry on Lucina's face as well as Morgan's. The two ducked back outside, holding a whispered conference… and Robin turned back to the robed figure.

"Well boy, it seems your entire family has a knack for ferreting out truths." Basilio finally spoke. "I don't mind playing dead for a little while longer. And as to the trouble of delivering this… ha, you couldn't pay me enough in gold to sit this conflict out. So what else do you need of me?"

"To really have a chance at winning this… I think we'll need a few things," with Chrom standing nearby, Robin leaned over her planning table with Basilio, and worked out a last, hushed conference.

-o-o-o-

More than a few revelations had been dropped on her that evening, mostly courtesy of Morgan explaining everything to her. It had been a little exhausting, wrapping her head around Robin's plans. Due to that, Lucina fell into sleep the second her head hit the pillow. But her rest was far from peaceful.

Through the thick, dream choked air she could pick out two other forms. Curled together and weakly stirring, as though sleeping. The more she focused on them, the easier it was to pick out her father's blue hair. Her mother's color was muted by the shadows stirring around them, almost like the dark clouds were trying to sink into Robin. Both of her parents twitched and fought against whatever it was around them, just holding it back as a faint silver glow washed over their forms.

 _'Argent?'_ Lucina thought, before seeing how pained both of them looked. A line of fire seemed to grow from their skin, over Chrom's heart and near Robin's neck. Like something was yanking the power out from their bodies, trying to get it to manifest under a will other than their own.

It wasn't something she could idly watch.

"Leave them alone! Face me instead!" She called out into the void... and saw four glimmers of light; red, green, blue, and a strange violet-black shimmer. The sight held her transfixed, before the four points transformed into two. Both bright red, staring at her like eyes now that she'd drawn their attention.

"Ah... you again. The first orphan of time..." She couldn't flinch away from the red points, couldn't even blink as they bored into her sight. "Yet for all that you are displaced… For all that you shouldn't be, you still have the blood in you. That must be why I pulled you into the call as well, whether I willed it or not. Blood calls to alike blood, granddaughter."

"S-silence. You aren't-" Lucina whispered out defiance, for all the good it did her. The presence around her chuckled.

"Oh, but I am. There are still ties. And if I can't fully reach your mother through whatever it is that shields her... I have no such limitations with either of YOU." Lucina found that she could blink all of a sudden, and did so in complete confusion. What was the voice talking about? It was just her-

Someone new drew in a shuddering breath, right next to her ear. Lucina turned around, but her eyes fell on blackness. If her eyes didn't work right, however, the same couldn't be said for her ears. She heard someone calling out.

"Luci-?" Morgan's voice cut out as he gave a pained cry.

"You and the boy. You share your mother's weakness… which gives me more than enough of a handhold, to do this." A second later Lucina felt agony lance through her hand. Her fingers balled into a fist, as she tried to push the pain back.

"Why are you doing this!?"

"Because it is a rare opportunity. I suppose I should be thankful both of your parents were so reckless. The damage to their Brands makes for strange interactions with their bloodlines... clear with how both of you have manifested both Brands. I wouldn't have the opportunity to seep into your minds otherwise... and you both will make worthy sacrifices to Grima."

Something squeezed at her head, shooting slivers of pain into her eye. A little more darkness shrouded her vision, as her eye was forced closed. Nearby Morgan gave another pained noise, and she was certain the same was happening to him.

"L-leave him alone." Lucina forced that through gritted teeth.

"You know, you can halt all of this; just with a simple word at that." Validar's words wormed into her head, right as Morgan cried out again. "You need only say that you submit… and all of this comes to an end."

Morgan screamed again, like something was tearing out his eye. Lucina blanched at his cry… and felt her resolve shudder.

"I-" She grit her teeth, before shaking her head back and forth. She could stand against this pain, she told herself. But a smaller voice asked if she could stand Morgan's.

"Why do you hesitate?" Validar taunted. "You aren't still clinging to ideas of nobility, after what you did... are you? After what you TRIED to do to your own mother. Though that does make us a match, with how we're willing to kill, to get what we want."

"Shut up." She didn't know how he discovered that… but for a moment she swore there were phantom fingers trying to comb through her head. She pushed Argent from her thoughts. Even if it laid her memories of confronting Robin bare.

"My, there's still a great deal of guilt lingering in your heart, over that. Do you think you can ever make up for what you did?" Nearby Morgan gave a weak noise, trying to say something… only for pain to still the words in his throat. Her eyes stung from both the words and the sound.

"Of course not. Not after drawing a blade against your own mother. Though perhaps… you could always stop the pain of your brother. After failing him so many times, that would only be fair wouldn't it?"

"Stop it!" Lucina hissed. His words were wearing her down… and it was a final sob from Morgan that made her break completely. "I don't want... I-"

"Oh? Something you wanted to say?" Validar's voice turned almost gentle, coaxing out a pair of words from her clenched teeth.

"I… submit." She choked out.

She swore that she heard the words echoed by another mouth, in Morgan's voice. But she had no time to dwell on it, the pain vanishing from her.

But in its place, a strange weight settled on her… and slowed her thoughts.

"Now... rise up." The voice commanded, and Lucina felt her control fade away completely as her neck nodded to the words.

-o-o-o-

Chrom twitched and twisted in his sleep, turning the blankets into knots as he tried to fight off something hounding him in his dreams. He came awake with a gasp of air and a pounding heart, laying still as he tried to remember what had haunted him in his sleep.

Something had been calling out to him; in a strange, echoing voice that shifted each time he listened to it. Sometimes it had a mad edge to it, coaxing him to follow it. Others it had almost sounded like Robin. At the thought, his hand sought out hers... and only found empty air. His heart, which had started to slow, jolted back into full pounding when he couldn't find her, couldn't feel her breathing next to him. His eyes desperately searched the tent, and found her in the middle of it, walking away from him.

"Robin-!" Chrom blurted the name out, throwing himself out of the bed as she walked for the tent flap. Sleep made her feet drag on the ground, scrapping her feet with each step. He stumbled into her, snapping his hands around her arms and holding her in place.

"What are you-?" Sleep fogged his thoughts, and all he could do was hang onto her.

 _'What... is she doing?'_ He just managed to churn that out through the haze clinging to his head. Robin's answer was to struggle against his hold, still half asleep. He saw yellow light sparking at her fingertips as she thrashed, trying to break free. Her efforts dragged them to the tent entrance.

 _'This has happened before.'_ The thought brought up memories of flying through a dark sky, years ago. Being half awake himself, and barely knowing his own actions. He just remembered what had happened to them, as well; what brought them back.

His fingers tore open the pouch at his side, and Argent spilled out and rolled across the ground. The gemstone glimmered and gave off a soft silver glow, lighting up both of their faces. Robin's eyes froze on it, and her struggles stilled as she rested against him.

"Chrom..." she murmured out, a dazed note in her voice as she shook her head back and forth. "Something isn't right. I thought I heard something else... something calling me."

A shiver moved up her, and Chrom felt the hair on the back of his neck rise up as well. He could hear the faint tug of something as well; something that drew his head like it was on a string, back up the ridge... to where the Dragon's Table was. Chrom peered out through the opening in the tent, following Robin's gaze. He knew he wouldn't be able to see anything-

Except for a flickering sky, pulsing with lightning. Against the shimmer in the clouds, Chrom picked out two shapes breaking free of the camp grounds and rising into the sky. Both of them on wings of flesh and feathers, the edges beating against the magic charged air. When the lightning sparked out again, he picked out a blue glimmer in their hair.

"Lucina," Robin choked out, right as Chrom whispered "Morgan?"

He stared down at Robin. Adrenaline kicked his thoughts into full gear and lurched him out of that dazed state. From the desperate, sharp look in her eyes, the same was true for Robin.

"S-something's calling them. I had the same thing happen in my dream, but it was somehow dimmer-" She rushed out.

"Gods! The same thing happened to me, I remember it now. Something was trying to pull me somewhere. But where-?" He cut off, and knew the same thing had occurred to Robin. "...The Dragon's Table. They're being called to THAT, and that bastard Validar."

He threw on his clothes as he spoke, keeping one eye on the sky as Lucina stretched out her wings and drove herself up into it. Chrom buckled a sword to his side, and saw Robin had done the same, fastening a tome to her belts. Together they raced out into the stormy night, eyes on their children.

Already Chrom knew there was no way of catching them on foot. Robin must have figured it out as well, with how she paused. Her sides heaved as she stared up at them. Her hands shook, and she balled them into fists to try and keep them steady. Already, Chrom could see the Brand glowing brighter.

"They can't face this alone. I won't let them," she whispered out. As Chrom watched Lucina fight against the storm winds, he felt his own Brand twitch and burn. His skin felt tight all over his body-

 _'There's no guarantee you'll be able to change back, if you do this.'_ Not with just one gemstone, and a dark power saturating the air around them. But watching his children, Chrom couldn't bring himself to care. He threw his arms back and let the Brand's power sweep through him. His back screamed for an instant, before the wings burst out and fanned against the air. Robin mirrored him, lunging for the sky the second her own wings sprung out.

The winds could have been waiting for just that moment; the second their feet left the ground, the storm curled around them. The updrafts hooked into their wings and wrenched them up, closer to Lucina and Morgan. All four of them were caught up in the storm now... and yet his daughter and son stayed just out of reach, no matter how Chrom fought to reach them. Robin had her arm stretched out, but she couldn't punch through the cross winds either.

Chrom risked a look over his shoulder, and saw a few dots streaming out of the Shepherds tents. Pointing to them, calling out something lost in the thunder.

Slashes of rain cut at his face, and he knew the Shepherds would be hard pressed to catch up with them now. The same storm that carried them started to vent its rage down on the campground, with vicious winds and sheets of rain lashing the tents. The Shepherds would be hopelessly mired... unlike him, and his family.

And with Morgan and Lucina just out of reach, Chrom couldn't bring himself to turn back, towards the grounded Shepherds. Not if it confined him to the ground.

Instead, the storm carried all four of them, tossed them through the winds, and pulled them towards the spur of stone stretched out from the dessert sands. And all the while the wind and thunder roared around them, like the howl of some ancient thing, stirring in its sleep and beckoning them onward.


	62. Grim Tidings

**Chapter 62: Grim Tidings**

"Well… things have been better than this." Lissa sighed out. "Usually they involve having our leaders around, instead of running out for who knows why."

The Shepherds held a rushed council, hunkered down in a tent against the raging storm. The desert winds still found a way into the tent, making the candles Lissa had lit gutter and waver. The princess found herself seated next to Frederick, while Say'ri and Tiki sat at the opposite side of the table.

"I was always taught to establish facts first, and work from there." Say'ri said. "And this is what I know; Chrom and Robin both took to the air, and their children remain unaccounted, outside of a few sightings of two other forms in the sky. We still need to march on Dragon's Table... and Frederick and Lissa are likely what passes for a third in command, in the absence of the two leaders."

"Aye," Frederick murmured. Lissa blinked at all of them, and it suddenly becoming apparent why she'd been invited to the meeting.

"Wait, you're looking to ME!?"

"Milady," Say'ri said. "You ARE the younger sister of our commander, just below him in rank. You have several years worth of experience by now; we trust you and Frederick to both come to a good conclusion on what to do."

It certainly didn't FEEL like she had years of experience just then. Lissa swallowed hard, glancing at Frederick as she tried to feel out a plan. The knight's expression was carefully composed, though he took pains to stay seated and keep his weight off his leg. And even with his face schooled into a thoughtful look, Lissa didn't miss the worry tugging at his lips.

He was likely remembering the last time Chrom and Robin left the Shepherds so suddenly.

"I-I'm sure it'll be alright-" Lissa started to say, only to trail off when Tiki winced. A particularly vicious blast of wind set the tent canvas to flapping at the same moment.

"Lady Tiki, are you alright?" Say'ri refused to let the storm bother her, instantly going to Tiki's side.

"Well enough... I'm sorry, it's just that the air here. It's thick with magic, and painfully clear someone has been working spells."

"You can feel that?" Lissa asked. The best she could manage was a shiver from the rain soaked wind, seeping in past the tent flap.

"Yes. It's something like having a low grade fever, and as though someone has a thread tied to your head and is constantly pulling it towards the Dragon's Table..." Tiki trailed off. "...Which must be where the others headed. I should have grasped that MUCH more quickly. I am sorry."

"Don't be; it just makes it clear we have to get over there and help them. And besides, we can't let Chrom and Robin charge into trouble alone. Maybe we can't match their speed, but we should at least try to get to Dragon's Table, right?"

"Indeed." Frederick answered her. "The one problem facing us, is how we get close enough to help without being bogged down by Risen. I understand Validar has a personal guard placed at the Table. How we get close enough to strike is an issue-"

"Captain- I mean commanders? Sirs? Ma'ams?" Sumia's voice cut in, as she ducked under the tent flap. "I apologize for the intrusion, but you should know; our lookouts have spotted groups of people all around us. Not Risen... but they have an odd way of moving all the same. They don't seem to be looking for a fight, and they don't even pay any mind to us. They just keep marching towards the Dragon's Table, in a ragged convoy."

Lissa turned to Frederick, a massive grin crossing her face.

"Well, you wanted a way to move closer to the enemy lines without causing any commotion, and here you are!"

"Milady, you can't possibly mean-"

"Hey, WHO is one of Robin's best friends? And who has several years of experience fighting alongside her and Chrom? I think I've picked up a trick or two, and this is a plan that's just crazy enough to be one of hers! We'll keep the main force separate, but you, me, and a few more of the Shepherds can easily slip into the ranks of these guys. I think we have some old ragged blankets to help us look the part, too." Frederick pinched his nose as he listened.

"That... is not the most reassuring line of thought, milady. But with no better plan, I'm forced to agree with it."

"That's the spirit, Frederick. Besides, this should help us find Robin and Chrom. All we need to do is keep moving under cover, and keep an eye out for a trail of destruction and broken objects. It'll be fine!"

-o-o-o-

 _'What is-'_ was Lucina's first thought. She could only manage those two words, with how sluggish her brain felt, shrouded over by something.

' _What-'_

The what bit was open ended; what was happening to her, what was the cause of that breeze teasing her face, what was that dark shape darting through the air in front of her-

All of that got shoved aside to wonder over what that soft, silver light coating her vision was. Lucina gazed at the point of light ahead of her, barely aware of the long, scything and wing-like shapes edging out around from the point of light. There was something so familiar about the silver glow, something she'd seen before... something starting to clear her thoughts and the odd ringing in her head. Just enough to hear,

"LUCINA!" She smashed into something, and felt arms wrap around her. Lucina flinched from the impact, lashed around as the voice repeated the name in her ear.

 _'M-my name?'_ The thought clawed its way into her head. Lucina blinked as her vision cleared up, and she found herself gazing up at a familiar blue haired framed face.

"Lucina, stay with me! Listen to me!" Her father shouted out, his hands wrapped around her shoulders. Silver wings fanned out from his back, holding them both in the air-

The last threads of the spell snapped clean from her mind, and the reality of where they were and what was happening crashed into her. Her back writhed as it felt the wings growing out of it. They curled in around her, shivering with tension.

"It's alright," her father murmured. "We've got you both."

She looked up to see Robin hanging onto Morgan. Her mother's black feathered wings almost bled into the sky, while her face looked deathly pale. Her eyes were squinted in concentration... and Lucina was sure for a moment she could see holes trying to open in Robin's face.

"You- you risked too much," she gasped out. "What if you can't change back?"

Her own body burned when Lucina tried to call her change back; her blood was thrumming too wildly, like she was a massive tensed muscle that wouldn't relax back to normal. Chrom only shook his head.

"And have YOU go to the Table in our place? Sorry, but I refuse to let that happen. Don't worry, we'll figure out-" Lucina was looking up at him through her bangs, half ashamed. But she still saw the blaze of red light cutting through the sky a second before it slammed into Chrom. The air baked around them, and a roar of flames blossomed out. Chrom went straight, freezing from shock and pain, before curling over as his fingers tore themselves free from Lucina's shoulders.

She dropped like a stone before reality caught up to her, and her wings snapped out. They may have felt strange in her back, but they did the job of stopping her fall. A second later a different blue haired blur snapped into view and slammed against her, grabbing onto her arm; Morgan didn't seem to care that she wasn't falling anymore, and still clung onto her. His darkened wings churned the air, pulling her higher into the air.

While they both hung in the air, Robin dove for Chrom as he tumbled end over end through the sky, the flames burning along his clothing. Lucina saw a gleam of silver and blue scales where the fire washed over him, in the place of burns. Robin just managed to grab onto him, and pulled him out of the fall.

"Well, well. I should have known better than to doubt Validar's magic and summons. Look at what it's delivered to our doorstep." Lucina snapped her gaze from her parents, to where the fire had come from. She picked out a dark pegasus hovering just out of a reach, and a woman in black gazing down at them with an amused expression.

"You are all amazingly well trained creatures, responding to just the briefest weave of a spell."

"Aversa?" Amazing how Morgan could make that into a question and a bitter insult at the same time. Lucina could only hover and watch, as the memories of her dreams crashed in all around her.

 _'Blood calls to blood.'_ She stared down at her hand, and saw the Fel Brand looking back at her.

"You catch on quickly, just like your mother. This all suits Validar's purpose well enough... but then, he never said anything about leaving ALL of you alive. Or completely intact for that matter." Aversa's eyes slid over them all. Chrom was fighting for control, glaring hate at the Dark Flier as new scales swept over his skin.

"Particularly you, Exalt. I wonder if you or either of your offspring will survive the fall, once I clip those wings." As she spoke, runes encircled her hand and a new fire spell blazed to life in her palm. It cast a hellish glow on her face, and lit up the dark sky around them for an instant. Through the flickering light, Lucina picked out more shapes angling out of the clouds. Other fliers, mounted on wyverns and pegasi. All of them were swathed in blackness, almost spun out of shadows... and Lucina's blood ran cold when they leveled a burning, intense red gaze on her.

"Company and a welcoming party. I hope you appreciate how much WORK it takes to fashion mounts for so many Risen. And of course to make your arrival special... I outfitted a few Deadlords to welcome you to the Table. Much as I would love introductions, they're all too eager for your blood. And I wouldn't dream of depriving them." The fire flared up bright in her hand, as Aversa dropped the reins and motioned with her other hand. The Risen followed her motion like hounds about to be set on prey.

"Tear them out of the sky."

-o-o-o-

' _Hah. Frederick can grumble all he likes, but the fact is, this is working!'_ Lissa had to remind herself she needed to keep her head down, and match her movement to the odd shuffle that gripped this crowd of people.

The ragged blankets had masked them perfectly. She and an advance force of Shepherds were little more than extra cloaks in the mass of people. And none of the wanderers took much notice of them. Or said much at all.

"Well... they don't make much for conversation." Tharja drawled out, looking at the slack faces to either side of them. "Looks like Naga's daughter had the truth of it. Lot of spell work going on here, and I'd wager Validar is using your artifacts to boost his power over the Grimleal."

None of the wanderers turned towards Tharja's voice; the words could be little more than a whisper of wind.

"But it's not working on you?" Tiki stuck close to Lissa and broke off from rubbing at her forehead, to ask Tharja.

"Please. It's been over a year since I've offered up my blood to Grima, or any serious prayers to the Fell Dragon... or attended any ceremonies for that matter. Odds are that isn't the case for everyone else here."

They didn't have long to dwell on that theory, however; not when a strange bolt of scarlet licked across the clouds. Lissa flinched from the light, though only the Shepherds reacted to it; the wanderers didn't look up, nor brace for thunder the way Lissa did.

Though after a moment, Lissa blinked up at the sky in confusion. Well past counting to ten, and she was still waiting for the thunderclap.

"That isn't lightning..." Lissa whispered as she stared up.

"Spell fire." Tiki murmured. "It looks like the start of our battle will be up there."

And that was likely where they'd find Chrom and the others. That sped Lissa forward… only to pause when Frederick cleared his throat.

"We have our own battle to contend with." Frederick pointed out, his gaze leveled at the massive ruin. The Grimleal were all falling to the side, as a collection of warriors combed through them. Even at a distance, the red glow in their eyes was unmistakable. They didn't look like typical rank and file Risen, however.

But for all their menace, they hadn't spotted the Shepherds yet.

"Frederick...?"

"You're right. Surprise will be our main aid now. Let us hope we can get close enough to strike."

-o-o-o-

A sickened feeling tried to bloom in Morgan. A combination of confusion cramping up in his stomach, mixing with vertigo and shock souring his throat. Each pulse of his wings made his gut flip and roil, a reminder of how much he didn't belong up here.

' _Don't throw up. Throwing up thousands of feet in the air doesn't sound like a good idea.'_ He told himself. He shivered, still feeling the leftovers of a nightmare trying to cling to the inside of his brain-

A shriek yanked his eyes back up, to see red eyed, shadowy wyverns swooping towards them. Morgan snapped his wings in response to that, narrowing his eyes and tensing his hands. His fingers twitched, ready to let spells fly.

Fire shot out from his palm, engulfing a wyvern and leaving it struggling on burned wings.

He was holding up a slight bit better than his sister, although that wasn't saying much. Morgan found it helped if he didn't focus on the shape his back had taken, and instead kept his gaze locked on where his parents were in the sky. They acted as his focal point, along with his grip on Lucina's arm.

He yanked her to the side when the first wyvern rider worked past the burned wings and tried to close with them. Morgan's wings closed in around him, dropping him by a few feet and shielding him from the wake of wind that buffeted them both. His weight pulled Lucina with him, out of the rider's path. The wyvern's claws skimmed empty air, and it spun around to try another dive.

"Lucina!" His voice was little more than a tremor, but Lucina still heard it.

"Come on, get it together! We have to fight-" Morgan tried to push them higher, getting the advantage of height. Aversa only watched them from the back of her pegasus, not bothering to pursue… save for a lick of fire that raced up from her hands.

The flame exploded next to Morgan, painting the sky red and wracking his body with pain.

' _But… it didn't hit me! So why-'_ That miss didn't matter to his body; it still screamed from pain as changes tried to wrench through his body. His wings lost their grip on the air, shuddering when the muscles in his shoulders squirmed. He snapped his grip tighter around Lucina, as they plummeted again.

"I-I don't-" Lucina was still struggling, still coming to grips with her new shape. So it fell on him to keep them aloft. His back shuddered, his shoulders almost wrenching free when his wings snapped back out.

Morgan had to work to keep them in the air, and keep them moving through the sky so they weren't easy prey for the wyverns. But he just managed, evident by the lack of talons burying themselves in either of their backs.

It helped that he didn't look all the way down, too. Or at least he TRIED not to, up until the sorceress Aversa gave a low chuckle.

"Hmm, and what's this? It seems you haven't come alone." That drew his eye down. A massive drop yawned out below him, sand dunes spread out like blankets and dotted with shapes moving along. His eyes stretched wide, his vision snapping into sharp clarity; he could easily pick out details, from the ragged cloaks over the figures on the ground, to the familiar pale glint of Aunt Lissa's hair-

 _'Aunt Lissa?'_ It was her alright, along with Frederick tearing his disguise away to show his armor. Owain was drawing steel, while Sumia and Cynthia were leading horses forward to ride... for all the good it would do them. The skies were full of enemy flyers, making it impossible for the pegasus riders to get more than a few feet into the air.

"L-Look out!" Lucina's voice was frail, but still snapped his attention back to the sky. Black wings filled his vision, and he shrank from a set of talons trying to lock into his chest. The wyvern's scream filled his head and drove out all thoughts.

Except for one.

' _Oh… this isn't going to be good.'_ The wyvern's wings formed a cage that Morgan couldn't break out of, hemming him and Lucina in on either side. The axe of the rider and the creatures fangs all looked sharp and ready to dig into their flesh-

An anguished howl cut through the air, before the points could find their mark. Robin smashed into the wyvern's flank, her cloak streaming out behind her. She left her sword buried in the rider's face, slashing the wyvern's wings with clawed hands as she broke away. The wyvern tumbled from the sky, wings uselessly trailing behind it.

"Keep them away from the Shepherds if you can!" Robin shouted out to them. "Otherwise, stay alive!"

Her eyes blazed in rage, a red glint to them as she turned to focus on the other troops. Morgan stared after her.

He was so intent on his mother that he didn't even realize Lucina had slipped free of his grip. He spun around in the air, desperately searching for her. A second later she shot past him, her wings making powerful strokes and shoving her forward. His sister wasn't going to be passive any longer, judging by the howl ripping out of her throat.

Or the way she shredded one of the wyvern's wings to ribbons, mirroring Robin and sending it crashing towards the earth.

And he wasn't going to let her fight alone, Morgan told himself as he flew after her.

-o-o-o-

' _Is this what facing Father was like, for Chrom?'_ Lissa had her doubts. Her brother didn't seem like the sort to go sick to his stomach when he saw moving corpses. Not like her. Still, she kept a death grip on her staff, and didn't flinch when she watched the other Shepherds close with the Risen. She had keep her eyes open and dart in to heal where she could. That's what Lissa told herself.

And thankfully the rest of her listened. Each strike that the Shepherds deflected was something she could dismiss; each cut took a spot in priority to heal.

And there was no shortage of wounds. Not with those _things_ riding on pitch black horses, and a wicked glint to their weapons. She wasn't even all that shocked when Vaike took on a lion's share of the wounds, shoving others out of the way. Even Lon'qu couldn't dodge every strike, either… though both of them gave back as good as they received.

And then there was Owain, who seemed to have a limitless well of stamina and just as much luck. He hadn't dodged back to the healers once yet; which was just as well, with how much she, Maribelle, and Brady had their hands full.

Owain danced away from a spear strike, and took the arm that held it. He had a wild grin on his face, rounding on another mounted fighter wielding an axe. He focused only on what to dodge and strike back at-

And blind to what was happening above.

Her only warning was a whistling noise in the air. Lissa flung herself backwards, grabbing Owain by the shoulder before a massive form smashed into the Deadlord. Whatever fight was left in the thing was easily snuffed out by the weight of a falling wyvern.

' _Risen wyvern, from the looks of it.'_ That dying red light in its eyes said that much. Owain stared at the twitching wings, before a mailed hand went to his shoulder. Frederick hauled him back up, while Lissa lurched back to her own feet. She let her eyes trace up to the skies… and the winged figures lashing out at the remaining fighters.

"...Told ya. Just follow the trail of destruction." Lissa said, staring up at the battle in the sky above them. Frederick just grumbled an acknowledgment.

-o-o-o-

"LUCINA!" Robin yanked her head from the Risen at Chrom's voice. He stayed locked in combat with one of the wyverns, trying to break through. His talons were embedded in the scales, thanks to a vicious strike. But the savagery of the strike left him only able to watch. When she followed his gaze, all the rage in Robin went stark cold.

Her daughter tried to fight against Aversa, bringing a sword up against her… but her motions were all too slow. A bolt of fire shot through Lucina's shoulder, and she curled into a pained ball. The membrane of her wing went black, charred from the spell. Her wings no longer gave her height, folded uselessly as Lucina fell.

Aversa followed her form, chasing Lucina as she plummeted. Morgan followed them, his wings giving a quick push to catch him up and blaze past Aversa. He snatched Lucina from her fall, talons digging into his sister's clothing as his wings churned for height.

The effort left him vulnerable, unable to raise his guard against Aversa. Magic crackled through her hands as she looked down her nose at the two.

"No need to rush for attention child. It will be your turn soon enough, when I finish with her-"

"Get away from her, you _witch_." Robin's voice was more snarl than words. Aversa flinched from the heat in her voice, turning to face Robin while Morgan dragged Lucina from the fight. Robin focused only on Aversa as flames danced in the corner of Robin's vision, spilling from her own lips.

An answering bolt of fire sprang from Aversa's hands. It slammed into Robin's side, and the smell of burning feathers and cloth assaulted her nose. Painful red fingers dug into her left wing, the air whistling uselessly as the remaining feathers clawed for a handhold in the sky. Her balance had gotten burned out of her, along with a chunk of her wing, and she crashed into Aversa's pegasus. Her gut caught on the animal's neck and the horse screamed, writhing from the flames that shot out of Robin's mouth.

Robin fought to get her breath back, wings writhing and bruising where the pegasus' limbs buffeted hers. Another blaze of pain sprang along her shoulder, where Aversa slammed her hand into Robin. Licks of flame sprang to life along the woman's fingers, digging into Robin's flesh like a dozen red hot needles.

"Stubborn, I'll give you that… I can see why Validar has such an interest in pride in you." A different nausea than the pain of impact twisted her gut, at Aversa's half praise. "…And I'd hate to have to compete with you, for his praise. Perhaps you should exit this plan. Be cut down and silenced before you ripen."

"R-Ripen?" Robin wheezed out.

"Hush now; you needn't worry your pretty little head any longer about it." Her burning hand grabbed Robin by the throat. The other leveled a spear at her throat. "I'll have to account for your brood as well; no point in leaving loose ends."

Her face ached. Not from the fire, but from something straining against her skin. Something that made her flesh go thin and brittle… and that she'd felt once before.

' _Open your eyes, Robin.'_ Validar's voice rang in her head… and something answered, tearing holes in her cheeks. The pain of her injuries faded, and the glow of Aversa's flames seemed to dim, compared to the red glare from Robin's eyes.

The dark flyer had lost some of her arrogance. The taunts went still in her throat as she stared at Robin. She tried to stab her spear at Robin's face, but something made her grip shaky. Robin yanked her head up, feeling a crack of bone in her skull. The spear clattered uselessly off a pair of horns, falling from Aversa's hands.

Aversa tried to ready another spell, eyes widening in desperation. Her other hand tried to push Robin away from her, to give her room to flee.

 _'No. You don't get to escape.'_ The thought crackled across her brain, left her claws razor sharp as Robin wrenched herself up. The world stayed bright red, even though the fire in Aversa's grip had died. It tinged her vision, left it blurred out-

Save for Aversa's throat. That remained in clear, hard contrast. Her claws lashed out, and a little more red soaked into the air. The dark flier stared with shock writ across her face, clutching at her throat and collarbone. The pegasus screamed as its rider went limp, folding its wings and diving from the combat. Robin snarled as she watched the horse escape, still alive. She could catch it though, and fix that-

She moved to dive, only for someone to drive himself between her and her target. Chrom stared up at her, scaled arms raised to fend off a blow if she tried to attack HIM as well.

Seeing him on the defensive made her stop up short, even as the rest of her screamed for violence.

 _'What am I- what's wrong with me?'_ Aversa and her horse had turned into a dwindling dot; no telling if the sorceress lived or not, but she was clearly out of the fight. And in Aversa's absence came a pull, latched into her eyes and horns… and pulling her towards the Dragon's Table. She flinched from Chrom, and turned to the great tower, stretching up like a fang.

' _Just… Just like in my dreams. That was the same tower Validar tried to call me towards, so many years ago.'_

And with that memory, came the knowledge that the fight was nowhere close to finished.

-o-o-o-

Pain. Pain and confusion were Lucina's world. She winced at something burrowing into her shoulder, where burned muscles throbbed. The limbs growing from her back twitched, trying to fly again.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy there," came Morgan's voice, and she became aware of arms around her. The sleeves of Morgan's robes rustled in the breeze, and she realized how strained his breathing was.

Lucina forced her head up, just in time to see Aversa falling broken from the sky. The air seemed clearer now, with fewer wyverns clogging the clouds. Robin and Chrom hung in the air, frozen by something… backs turned to the last wyvern trying to close with them.

Lucina had one answer to that. She tried to surge up, her wing screaming in pain. But if she couldn't claw her ways upwards, then Morgan made up for it, pushing them forward.

Lucina leveled her weapon as Morgan flew them towards the wyvern, shoving them between Chrom and Robin in a last desperate effort. The wyvern shrieked, matched only by Morgan when he screamed… and a wing bone crunched underneath the wyvern's jaws. Morgan slumped forward, limp in the wyvern's fangs. His hand slipped from Lucina's arm, leaving her to fall free-

' _No!'_ Her one good wing beat at the air. The other ached, fumbling and drawing the wyvern's eyes. It turned its head on her… and the broad surface of the wyvern's head was the perfect target for her sword. Lucina plunged the weapon between the red eyes.

The scarlet glow of the eyes dimmed, and smoke billowed out in the place of blood. The great, rotted wings folded, and the wyvern fell through the clouds. Past Chrom and Robin, before they had a hope of reacting.

Wind whipped at Lucina's face and drew tears from her eyes. But through the haze in her eyes, she saw a figure claw their way up from the saddle. The Deadlord rider wasn't done yet, a groan echoing from the thing's mouth. Its arm lifted an axe up, ready to bury it in Lucina's head-

"I-I don't think so!" Morgan's voice gasped out. Followed by a spell, striking through the Risen's flesh. The rider fell slack from the saddle, mirroring their fall towards the earth.

"Any more ideas!?" Lucina called out, her wing still useless for true flight. Morgan only winced, trying to pull his limb free from the teeth.

"Yeah! Hang on and brace for impact-!" His words were cut short by Lucina's grip. She pried the wyvern's jaws open with her sword, giving Morgan room to move free… and promptly yanked him close, scrambling into the saddle to try and cushion Morgan from the worst of the blow.

The world turned into a jumble, where the horizon couldn't decide if it was vertical or lateral. The sky finally settled on a place somewhere above her… and a number of bruises settled along her sides. A crash filled her ears, and she clung to Morgan and the saddle both to dear life… until they finally came to a halt.

"Well, on the plus side it hurts too much to be dead." Lucina groaned. Morgan gave an agreeing whine. He raised his head and Lucina followed, picking out the trench the wyvern had torn in the ground… and the way sand shifted to stones. A rough road that was tracing to the sands, towards a structure-

Her heart tried to climb into her throat when Lucina glimpsed the shadow falling over them, and traced it to the tower overhead.

"That's… that's the Dragon's Table, isn't it? What was Validar trying to get us too DO!?" Morgan blurted out. At his voice, a nightmare boiled up in his brain… a memory of Validar sinking his claws into her brain-

"…Gods, I think I remember. He wanted to draw us out here for- for a sacrifice." A sour taste settled in her mouth, over how she'd capitulated to his demands.

'… _Or maybe we were just meant to be bait, this entire time.'_ The thought stirred, the same time a breeze tugged at her hair. A thrum of wings brushed against her ears, and she looked up to see Chrom and Robin both making a landing. One that was a lot more graceful than what she and Morgan had done-

Though Robin didn't hold onto that same grace when she saw the two, almost tripping over her wings as she rushed to their sides. Chrom simply settled for lunging forward and crashing against the dead wyvern's side.

"Are you alright!?" Robin and Chrom managed to say that at the same time. Lucina's answer died in her throat when she met Robin's gaze… and saw the six eyes, glowing red back at her. Even Morgan gave a scared whimper.

"I- I-" She flinched from Robin's reach, shame coiling in her gut.

"Well, at least your reflexes are okay." Robin whispered, stepping back from Lucina. Her head ducked low, almost seeming to wince from the reaction she caused. Lucina dropped her gaze, staring at Robin's hands instead.

"Y-yes. We're both okay… mostly." With _mostly_ being the keyword.

"Gods, I was terrified… But you're alright. You're back with us." Robin breathed out.

"…Doesn't the fact that we're right at Validar's doorstep matter?" Because of Lucina herself; that colored the grumble of Lucina's words. And Robin must have heard it, with how she started.

"Lucina… I can hardly blame you for that. Not after what happened to me. Besides, we had to march on this place, sooner or later-" Robin mumbled, before cutting off with a wince. Lucina yanked her head back up, discomfort lost over her mother's pain. All her eyes narrowed from something… and in a second more, Lucina _heard_ that something. A pained, high pitched ringing echoed in her head.

"Wh-what is this…?" Morgan whispered, between fingers clutched at his head. The sound echoed stronger in Lucina's brain, rattling all her thoughts loose save for one;

' _Heed my call.'_ Validar's voice echoed through their heads. Only Chrom remained unaffected, staring at all of them.

All of them, shivering in pain.

The nightmare played out in Lucina's head again; her mother had the same pained look as Morgan did, the extra eyes on her face only amplifying the effect.

"I need… to…" Robin grit her teeth, her hand dipping inside the pockets of her robe. She shook her head back and forth, before meeting Chrom's gaze. As she watched, the ringing in Lucina's head slowly dimmed. Something was suppressing the spell, but _what_ she didn't know.

"…Validar wants us in there." Robin said at last. "Given all the effort he's put forward… Gods, it's still-" The spell was still trying to burrow into their heads. Lucina winced against it.

"Looks like one way or another, we need to get inside. If it will stop him trying to call us all in." Robin's eyes all narrowed, and Chrom took her by the hand. Lucina tried to find her feet… only for Chrom to stop her short.

"Let's try not to give Validar everything he wants. It's up to us from here. So…" Together, they moved into the temple… and the spell cut out. The silence in Lucina's head was all but deafening. It also numbed her muscles, robbing her of all motion.

And Lucina was left shivering in the saddle, Morgan slumped against her.

That was how the rest of the Shepherds found them.

Frederick blanched at the sight of their changes, wobbling in his saddle. It was up to Sumia to keep him upright, while Lissa bolted towards them.

"Wh-what happened to you- HEY!" She squeaked, snapping a hand on Lucina when she tried to find her feet. "No rushing in like that, when you're in such a state!"

"I refuse to stay idle while they risk their lives!" Lucina choked out. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes; she KNEW that Chrom and Robin were making their way to the main room of the ruin... and she could do nothing for them. "I won't let history repeat. You have to let me go to them!"

"I... I am sorry, princess. You cannot see yourself, and how ragged a state you are in. And I cannot allow you to go forward and-"

"I get that you have orders and priorities. And I respect your devotion to Mom and Dad; please don't misunderstand that." Morgan stood by Lucina's shoulder as he spoke. "But, well… You might have orders to watch Lucina, but I've constantly told Mother I want to help her plan and win victories. And if I decide that I NEED Lucina's help, then..."

"...I'm uncertain whether I should be vexed, or impressed."

"Look at it this way. You kept your word as well as you could; you just couldn't account for either of us being as headstrong as our parents." At Morgan's words, he lifted Lucina up and onto her feet. "Ready, Lucina?"

"As well as I can be." She answered. Together, she and Morgan ran several paces, drawing their wings in tight. They found themselves at the head of the group, and leading the charge into the temple.


	63. Fellblooded

**Chapter 63: Fellblooded**

"-obin," A voice tried to shake her thoughts free from the muddle they'd fallen into. She only groaned in response, caught between lifting her head towards the voice and trying to turn away.

Not that she could do much of either. All the muscles in her body seemed to be replaced with sandbags, limiting her ability to move.

"Robin, hold on." But it didn't affect her hearing.

"Chrm-?" She mumbled around a dry mouth. Something pressed into her back; stones from where she'd been set down. A set of sharp points nipped at her face, almost like a collection of talons were trying to cup her face.

"Are you back with us? Are you alright?" Chrom's voice was heavy with concern, and his fingers ran along the edge of her cheek. The scales lining both of their flesh sighed together, still not retreating. Robin just managed a nod, looking around them as the world came back into a slight, hazy focus.

"Thank the gods... you had me scared for a moment. You blacked out for a moment when we landed." All the tension seeped out of his face as he hung over her. Chrom's wings mantled over them, and her own were drawn in close around her. All around them, the tight halls closed in, making the space all the more suffocating.

"I-" Something lingered on the edge of her memory. Something trying to call out to her, a wrenching pain in her head, and then blackness. Power still hummed in the stones underneath her, and Robin had the feeling that if she dwelled on that half memory for too long, she'd have another black out.

"We're going to be alright. You're still Robin," Chrom promised her. His grip tightened on her arms, and she got the feeling that if they weren't half changed, he'd pull her tight into a hug.

Or if they weren't in the middle of hostile territory. Robin glanced around, watching as the shadows fell away when she focused all six eyes on them. She tensed, looking at their surroundings. Something seemed almost familiar about these ruins, disquietingly so. She tensed under his hands.

"If you don't want to listen to me... listen to what's in the air instead." Chrom pulled her upright, and Robin tilted her head to the side. The hallway, from one shadowed end to the other was silent as a tomb, echoing with only their voices-

But Chrom was right. On the edge of it, she could hear SOMETHING. A familiar, metallic hum that settled deep into her bones. Just like that, her body didn't feel heavy or tired anymore, and she COULD get to her feet.

"The Emblem." She whispered.

"Right. It's close by… and if we act fast _now,_ maybe we can end this before it starts, and take the Emblem." Robin nodded at that; and more than just getting to her feet, she found she had strength to run. She and Chrom sprinted down the halls together, knowing what waited for them at the end.

-o-o-o-

The Emblem stood in the center of the altar, and Robin's stomach churned once she saw the dark purple flames washing over it. The gold metal seemed like it was pulsing against the colors, fighting against the spell wrapped and flickering around it.

Validar lifted his head from the blaze, gazing over his shoulder at them both. A cruel smile twisted across his face as he took them in. His eyes lingered on hers... and Robin KNEW he was looking at the rents in her face. His smile took on a feral edge, the pale color of his teeth showing clear against the gloom. The violet flames sent a sickly light and shadow dancing across Validar's face, and even Chrom's scales lost some of their silvery glow, going a strange ivory instead.

"How nice of you to attend, Chrom. I see the Emblem is still trying to work its spells on you. It seems it has yet to accept me as its new master, since you still draw breath. I will amend that shortly, of course." His tone was almost polite, a poisoned dagger wrapped in silk. Validar dipped his head in a mocking bow, eyes dancing between Chrom and Robin. Something in his gaze set her face to squirming, and Robin couldn't lift her head to fully look at him.

Chrom didn't have the same difficulty. His steps were sure as he moved forward to glare at Validar. His own eyes were glimmering pale blue flames against the shadows, blazing with defiance.

"I won't allow it."

"YOU won't allow it, boy king? You, who don't deserve the blessings of a dragon's bloodline? You are given a gift of power, and you squander it by clinging to human frailties and form. Your stubbornness blinds you. Your half form is testament to your weakness, in how you cling to it instead of embracing a higher form, a purer thing than human filth. And YOU will not allow it?" Validar's voice snapped from polite to scorching in a blink, and he glared down his nose at Chrom. Behind him, the violet flames clawed their way higher into the air, drawing strength from the sorcerer's presence. Robin felt her own wings tremble from the words, and the scales crept up along her throat.

"It isn't weakness!" Chrom shouted back.

"No? Truly, you and all the kings I've seen have done an excellent task of killing people. Yet you never finish the task of purifying this world." His eyes narrowed in contempt. "Suffering, death... a pointless world if ever there was one, as humans struggle with no end in sight. Grima is the perfect solution to ending this world and opening a better way."

The fire blazed at his words, illuminating the twisted carvings that lined the alter. Six eyed marks stared down at them from atop pillars, while twisted, bestial statues roared silently down at them.

"Dragons were the masters of this world while we cowered and crawled against the dirt. Now we finally restore things to the way they should be... Grima herself slumbers under our very feet."

Gods help her, she could feel it. She swore that the bricks shuddered underneath her feet, and the halls gave a rumble like a cavernous breath drawn in and out. Her own blood and breath quivered in answer, all but smoldering under her flesh.

"I have the Emblem, the power of the gemstones to rouse Grima from her long dormancy... all I need now is the vessel for the fell dragon. Which you have so generously provided."

And just like that the words froze her breath, stilled her heart where it had been pounding. The world went hushed all around her, as a dark shadow fell across her; not even the glow of the flames or the blue glimmer from Chrom felt like it could pierce what was drawn over her.

"Oh gods..." her whisper was so feeble as it rattled out of her throat. "He means me."

Validar favored her with an oily smile, his breath sighing out in a half laugh.

"Ah, you ken quickly Robin. That is my girl."

"I-I won't." Robin tried to protest. "I'll die before I allow-"

"Defiance ill suits your purpose, daughter. You were BRED for this purpose; you carry my blood, and the blood of the fell dragon. Her soul slumbers in you, and the time has finally arrived to awaken you both."

She didn't want to look him in the eyes. But tearing them away would mean looking at her own form, seeing the near black scales coating her, feeling the dark wings closing around her, and finally understanding the reason for them.

"Wh-what!? I'M Grima? I'M the fell dragon!?"

"Is it truly such a shock? Did you think the power in your blood was some simple byblow from a lesser group of dragons? The Grimleal have carefully bred for generations to create you; a perfect vessel, worthy of our master. Simply having the blood in our veins was not enough. None of US were worthy or able to accept the most sacred gift. But you? You had all the makings. You were perfection!"

"N-no..."

"Denial ill suits you, when the facts are so plain. The brand on your hand is proof enough." At his words, her hand ached as a pattern shone through the scales. The familiar six eyes gleamed violet. "We could have ushered this in more quickly, better groomed you to accept your purpose... if not for your damnable mother. Her heart was weak, and she betrayed us. Stole you from your crib, and fled into the night."

She didn't want to listen; she wanted the hammering of her blood to fully eclipse her senses. She finally had all her answers... and wished with everything that they'd never been given. If she could tear all her memories out again, she would.

"I knew nothing after that. I set assassins, hunters after her. Put coin into the hands of any willing man ready to hunt her down... and yet I never found you. I only recently learned of your mother's death-" Anger tried to sink into her, only to crash into a wall of grief and numb shock. Her shoulders shook, and her eyes stung as tears fell from one set and ran into the eyes of the other. Her vision blurred out... but her ears still worked perfectly.

"Ah, but all that matters now is that you have returned to us. Fate has brought you back. This is proof of your purpose, my child."

"It proves nothing, save your own madness." Chrom's voice filled her ears, still set with strength. His footsteps echoed off the columns, moving closer to Robin. "We can stop this, all of this."

"You may have killed me in some future past... but I am stronger this time. Our skirmish in the palace was but a prelude to this, and thanks to the power of the Dragon's Table, I will put an end to you."

"You're not the only one to gain strength. Right, Robin?" She picked out a pale figure through the fog in her eyes, just saw him turning to stare at her. "Robin?"

"I- " she couldn't meet his gaze, dropping her head with a pained noise.

"Stay with me, Robin! You aren't beholden to him, or Grima. You can fight this!" He turned his back on Validar, stepping closer to her and resting his hands on her shoulders. She felt points where his claws pressed into the fabric, trying to anchor her. "I know you're greater than this; we've all seen how strong you can be and what you're capable of! Don't let him shake your resolve!"

"Ch-chrom, I... I don't know." She didn't know anything, anymore.

"Enough of this folly. This entire display ill befits the heir of Grima." She didn't see the spell lighting in Validar's hands, but she FELT it. Chrom must have as well, with how his grip tightened on her... but he still refused to leave her to face the attack. "And you... Naga's heir. Lovely as your words are, they won't change fate. And they won't spare your life."

At his words, something roared through the air. Robin sprang forward, pulling Chrom to her as her wings wrapped around them both. The spell crashed into them, pain blazing along her limbs. Feathers burned and fell to the ground... but Chrom wasn't hurt. And she found the strength to wrench her wings aside and glare up at Validar.

"They are more than just words." Her voice was still quiet, but it had lost that fragile edge.

"Be still now, my daughter..." Validar's words tried to snake back into her ears, and shatter her resolve.

She raised her voice against them.

"I am NOT yours. And my life is not yours, not anymore than it began with you. It began the day Chrom found me in that field. I've traveled this world with my friends, fought for them, bled for them... and THAT is what matters. Not your destiny, not Grima. My own friends and family have more power than any of that."

And as if summoned by her words, she heard the foot falls of others. They were racing into the temple, calling for her and Chrom. The rest of the Shepherds had arrived.

"Folly. All of it folly and a fleeting vanity, which you will understand soon enough." Since Validar's words couldn't reach her, instead he murmured something under his breath. At the edges of her vision a strange glow crackled to life, forming strange runes and spell script. Whatever it was, it was confined to the floor stones and carried an echo of the violet altar flames.

"We agree on this much; my life has all been preparation for THIS moment. I won't let you harm my loved ones, and here is where I'll kill you or die trying!"

"...Brave words. You have my courage, but inherited your mother's poor judgment. But very well, fight if you wish. There is no damage I can do to your body that the fell dragon cannot repair!"

At his words, the runes on the floor blazed bright, and like a strange gleaming knife they cut through the air. A curtain of violet, pale energy fell between her, Chrom, and the rest of the Shepherds. She glimpsed Lucina yelling out something, but the barrier swallowed the noise and drowned out all but the faintest of forms with its light.

"So long as that barrier stands, no other soul can reach us." Said Validar. "You must face your grim fate alone."

-o-o-o-

The violet light was like a knife on her eyes, lancing into her sight and making Lucina cling to Falchion like a lifeline. The magic formed a blinding wall, and Lucina fought to blink her eyes clear. With one sense shut off, her hearing was that much sharper and she caught Validar's words; he'd captured her family. They had to face him alone.

"Mother! FATHER!" She could have screamed herself hoarse, and it wouldn't have made a difference. They couldn't hear her, and she couldn't reach them. Frustration drove her to slash at the barrier, while Morgan flung a spell at it. Both attacks hit the barrier with a flare of light that shot more pain into Lucina's eyes. Her arms gave an answering jolt of pain, Falchion bouncing from the barrier and almost wrenching free from her arms. Her body left the ground for a heartbeat, thrown back along with the sword, before crashing into the tiles. Another body hit the floor next to her, Morgan giving a pained noise.

"Augh, I feel like my arms are going to fall off at the elbows!" Lucina gave a groan of agreement, elbows and arms screaming as she tried to rise up. Her skin prickled from the spell... and she felt something else running along her cheeks. They burned and itched from new scales growing along them. Her neck prickled with heat-

' _That's more than just scales!'_ The thought blared in her head, and she smelled foul smoke from the breath of a rotting corpse. Lucina threw herself to the side, smashing into Morgan and both of them sliding to one side. A second later a loud metallic crash echoing through the room. That was the fall of an axe, she knew.

And judging by the clash of weapons and shouts, there were more difficulties on the way. Morgan's hands clapped around her shoulders, his claws shredding the fabric of her tunic.

"H-hey Lucina, we could REALLY use another fighter right now, before it's-" As Morgan spoke, she tried to blink and clear her vision. Lights still swam in her sight, growing sharper with each breath-

And turning into a _much_ sharper image, as Morgan gave a frantic gasp.

A rusted axe swung down at Lucina's head, and Morgan with his talons tangled in her tunic and cloak could only wince. For a horrible lurching moment she was sure THAT was how she'd die, unable to reach her family after all-

The blade didn't bury itself in her head. It bounced off something, with a shudder that shook Lucina from skull to shoulders. The impact yanked her head to the side, and her skull ached from the blow.

Her head rang, but the sound only spurred Lucina to slash upwards with her sword. It buried itself in the Risen's gut, the silvery arc of the blade lifting him clean from the ground and tossing him to the side.

As he fell she climbed part way to her feet and Morgan pulled her the rest of the way. Lucina's vision swam and something weighed on her head. She brought her fingers up, and felt something long and curving growing from her temples. Her fingers skimmed over ridges.

"Um… Luci?" She stared up at Morgan, and what looked like a matching set of horns framing his face. His eyes burned blue, and the aura around him had hardened to a solid blue glow. It seemed with each pulse of the force field, that glow only grew, eating off of whatever fueled the spell.

His eyes couldn't decide if they wanted to be stretched wide, or squinting from what was doubtless a headache to end all headaches anchoring itself in his skull.

Lucina wrenched her eyes away from the sight, before that sour taste could grow any further in the back of her mouth. Instead she took in the interior; Validar's spell wall cast grotesque shadows across the stones of the alter room, and she swore she saw tormented faces screaming and trying to claw their way free from the tiles. Or getting caught and snarled in the cloaks of others-

"Not just Risen, huh." Morgan breathed out. Grimleal choked the halls, the violet light adding a sinister gleam to the six eyed sigils in their clothing. They seemed to materialize from the shadows of the chamber, forming a noose around the Shepherds.

Frederick and Lissa were both shouting orders; Lissa from the ground, Frederick from where he perched in the saddle with Sumia. The Shepherds were trying to mobilize, form ranks against the threat.

' _So how can you do any less?'_ The thought spurred Lucina to her feet. Morgan followed the motion, finally working his claws free. Instead they grasped his spell book, the fire symbol on the cover marred by the tears from his talons.

"Not the best odds in the world," Lucina rasped out. Morgan simply opened the book, eyes gaining a baleful glow as fire bloomed in his palm.

"We've never let that stop us." He answered, and took a step forward to meet the rush of the Grimleal.

He wasn't letting the horns slow him down, still dodging from side to side. He caught her attention as he threw a fire ball over Owain's shoulder to give him some breathing room.

"Come on! We've got to clear this space if we want a chance of tackling that barrier again!" He pointed to the remaining Grimleal. He flung another gout of fire at the feet of the Grimleal, driving them back. The fire cast red lights, catching glints on the tips and sides of the horns framing his head.

She didn't think she imagined a sharper set to his teeth, his snarl growing with each fire bolt. But Morgan didn't care, throwing himself into each attack.

' _But we're running out of time and control.'_ Each fire spell, each clash of her sword and taste of blood soaking the air; it was all another knife to her control and ability to stay flesh was in a losing battle against the scales covering her, even as she cut down her foes.

' _And-'_ And her parents were still trapped on the other side. She could just glimpse their forms, struggling against Validar. The sight fueled Lucina's own strikes, each one growing more vicious than the last.

The world turned to a blur, only punctuated by the pin prick pain of scales across her cheeks, cracking her lips-

A breath of fire escaping her mouth as she felled her last enemy. Lucina winced from the blue flames, but forced herself to look beyond them. A fierce bolt of satisfaction shot through her, even as she felt sick from the sight of the carnage.

Morgan clutched at his head, the lambent blue of the aura dancing across his teeth where they were bared. He lunged into the next Grimleal with a tearing of flesh, and Lucina had the sickened feeling it wasn't just from weapons or spells. When he lurched his head up again, his face was a mess of scales.

' _He's losing his grip-'_ Lucina knew with a lurch. Morgan gave a bloodthirsty howl, forsaking his spell book to strike with his claws instead. Red scattered across him… and where it touched him, fire sprang up.

He sank to the ground as the cultists drew back, flinching from the intensity of the flames washing over Morgan.

Just like what had happened to her Father, years ago.

"Oh- oh gods…" Lucina whispered. "We need to get the Emblem back, _now."_

…That was when a sound finally breached the spell barrier. And she heard the wet noise of flesh being sliced apart, and Chrom's breath leaving him in a pained, choking gasp.

-o-o-o-

"Do you think Naga's pets will truly take you back, now that they've seen what you really are? _Look_ at yourself." Robin's eyes narrowed at that, _all_ of them, the new eyelids at her face pulling at her lips and showing her teeth.

"Your own daughter flinches from her heritage, does she not? If your flesh and blood rejects you what hope do you have from the other pawns?" Robin snarled again at that.

' _I-'_ She remembered Lucina's readiness to kill her-

And how Lucina had ultimately flinched from it. How Lucina still trusted Robin at the end of things. Her children were still on the other side of the barrier, their voices just piercing the shields and calling out to her.

"Cling to those bonds, and they'll only end up ensnaring you, child. You were born to be more than a weak human. You are meant to be a _god."_

"...Not your god. Not today." Robin spoke. A second later she felt pressure and the tips of claws squeezing around her wrist. Chrom's fingers rested against her hand for an instant, before his grip left hers and transferred over to his sword.

He rushed Validar, slashing through the first spell the sorcerer threw at him. The scales covering his arms acted as grieves, turning aside the bite of dark flames and letting them wash harmlessly past him.

 _"I've seen this before. I've DREAMED this before."_ Robin instantly knew that, as she watched her husband and father both weave back and forth, trying to find a chink in the other's defenses.

But familiar visions didn't matter. Not when she was helpless to act, or do anything to stop what she saw.

For all her words, there was something still slowing her. A combination of Validar's revelations, and the oppressive air of the place.

Chrom swung down hard at Validar and almost cut the mage open. But Chrom was so focused on the blade's path that he didn't see the spell gathering above them both.

"ABOVE YOU!" Robin screamed, only having time to draw breath for the cry. She couldn't draw up enough energy for a counter spell. Not with her body going heavy and her fingers turning into scale bound lead points. She wasn't _fast_ enough to help him-

Chrom at least was quick enough on his feet for both of them. He dove to the floor, tucking his wings in as he rolled under Validar's spell. A second later the floor he'd been standing on erupted into a blaze of violet. Chrom didn't pause over it, his focus shifted to the ceiling. Robin blinked, realizing that Validar was gone. Her eyes barely had time to flicker up before the oily shadows clinging to the stone roof parted. A spell circle flickered up as Validar's form snapped into the space.

Validar wasn't lying about the strength of the Dragon's Table. A teleportation spell like that should have cost him everything and left him doubled over. Instead the sorcerer was gathering another spell to him.

Robin lifted her hand up with a wrenching force, and saw stars in her eyes when she called up a lightning spell of her own. She launched it at Validar, and he snapped his hand to the side to fling his magic at hers. The spells clashed together midair, flaring bright before dying out.

In the heartbeat as the brightness faded, Chrom lunged upward. His wings pushed back the smoke and shale dust as they shoved him into the air. He'd dropped his sword to the ground in favor of slashing at Validar with his claws, trying to bury them in Validar's neck.

His talons almost pierced the wall of magic Validar threw up like a shield. Chrom pushed hard against the defense to try and punch all the way through. They were locked in a midair stalemate for just an instant.

One where she could do, HAD to do something in order to tip the odds to Chrom's favor.

 _'Cast, cast faster!'_ She screamed at her hands, cursing when they decided to tremble. She could barely hold her fingers out and use them as a channeling point; her lightning spell shot off at a shaky angle, arcing clear over Chrom and Validar's heads. The only thing she accomplished was lighting up the chamber in gold-

And grabbing Chrom's attention for just an instant. An instant was all Validar needed to break from his defense, and throw a bolt of cobalt tinged fire into Chrom's chest. His wings folded as the spell impacted, throwing him out of the sky. Robin tried to run towards him as he was slashed out of the air... but the distance was too much. Everything around her was moving too quickly.

This was also too familiar. Her body moving like it was underwater, or wading through sand. Only her eyes still worked correctly, taking in everything at lightning speed.

Chrom slammed hard into the pillar, the stone crackling and crumbling from the impact. Shards of rock rained down on his back where he sagged against the floor. Chrom struggled to find his feet, sides heaving as he tried to get his breath back.

Validar flickered into existence again in front of Chrom. Her husband shuddered as he tried to raise his head. Even his wings weren't working right, laying broken and twitching as they draped over him and rested on the floor. They couldn't shield him. Not when Validar gathered up a new spell, one that burned white hot at the center and leveled his gaze on Chrom's exposed neck and back.

 _"He's going to die!"_ The thought slashed through her brain, rending all of her thoughts and plans to tatters. Robin's claws scrabbled uselessly against the ground. She couldn't reach him in time to even shove him out of the way-

At least not under her own power. But there was more magic drifting around her, in motes of unspent energy thanks to the spells charging the air. Robin didn't pause, didn't even think; she snapped her focus outwards and grabbed everything she could. Energy crackled through her, sparking at her fingertips.

Validar's words echoed mockingly in her brain; HE was the one that had ordered the blades into her mother's back. And now he was trying to take away the rest of her family.

 _'I won't allow it.'_

Validar didn't get the chance to bury his spell in Chrom's back. Not when he had to throw his hands up, crossing his wrists as Robin's thunder bolt tried to pierce through him.

Just like at the palace, the lightning swarmed and crackled over a barrier he threw up. Validar met gaze her over his crossed hands, a smug grin starting to crease his features.

"Not this time..." Robin growled out. Her thunder spell dimmed around the edges for an instant when she followed it up with a second cast. Her skin burned where the spell gathered strength and raced along her arms. She didn't notice how her heart felt like a furnace, or the flickers of fire racing along her skin.

All her focus was locked on shattering his barrier. She didn't need Chrom's help this time. Validar's magic would break-

Because it was her will. She redoubled her focus on Validar, as her eyes, _all_ of them, threw him into sharp relief against the shadows. She saw how his grip was going white at the knuckles as he tried to push her spells off.

He wasn't the only one to command power. Robin knew that with how it hummed in her bones, stretched her wings out to the limit as energy crackled through them. Every single feather was sent to bristling. With one sweep they pushed at the air.

Something split the thunder spell apart. Gold lightning gave way to violet flames, burning their way out from the heart of the energy. Even on the other side of the spell, she could feel their heat blistering her exposed skin. Validar howled as the fires snapped through his shield and wrapped around him. His dark robes turned to smoke, and the flames bit into flesh, charred cloth, and melted the gold ornaments. The air turned thick with smoke and cooking flesh.

Robin couldn't imagine a better sight. Validar crumbled to the ground as Chrom finally fought his way to his feet and yanked away from the fire. Relief warred with confusion as he glanced at her. His face had taken on a red cast... and Robin knew that her own eyes were giving off the scarlet glow that bathed his skin.

It didn't slow him, or make him pause however. All his focus was on reaching her side.

"Ch-" she tried to say his name. Something choked her throat shut. He was already reaching up brush his fingers to her hand, trying to calm her down and give her a focus that wasn't the mark burning across her hand.

She almost felt his presence taking hold, stilling the throb of her pulse and giving her room to think.

"This isn't over..." Robin yanked her head up. The words cut into her ears as she saw Validar raise his head. Red consumed his eyes, making him a near match for her. The world shuddered all around them as the flames dimmed, and Validar gathered up one last attack. One last strike... and Chrom couldn't turn around to it in time.

"DAMN YOU BOTH!"

-o-o-o-

Robin's hand slammed into Chrom's chest, shoving him aside. Chrom could only stare at her, eyes fixed on her face and trying to figure out why-

His breath left in a confused gasp, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The air had gone saturated with magic, a spell just grazing past him. The air stung at his skin, and his vision turned violet; the color stained his clothing and his arms as he uselessly clawed at the air, still falling.

Still watching.

He watched a nightmare come to life, Robin throwing herself into the path of an attack meant for _him._ His words froze in his throat, his eyes fixed on her; Robin's robes flared out almost like another pair of limbs. The glare of the spell turning her into a winged silhouette… save for the red lights on her face.

The world went white. Chrom's sight was blind for a split second, only to focus on Robin again. Her form was broken, the fight and balance gone from her.

Her fall to the floor mirrored his, but unlike him Robin stayed motionless on the tiles. Her hood dropped over her face, the rise and fall of her sides barely visible through the feathers mantling her back.

A pain built on his back; he'd landed on one of his wings wrong, straining the membrane. Chrom bit down on the throb, focused only on scrambling back to his feet.

His throat was still closed on his voice, otherwise he would've been screaming her name. Finally he stumbled to his feet and half ran, half fell to her side. His breath rasped and panted, and his hands shook when they found her form.

"Y-you alright?" His voice was faint, but finally found its way out. Robin sagged in his grip, eyes rolling up to meet his as the rents in her cheeks slid shut. Her focus was still blurry, but she seemed to fix on his face and find some comfort in it. Enough comfort, that her head dipped in the barest suggestion of a nod.

' _That's all that matters.'_ Relief flooded through Chrom, and his teeth flashed in a brief smile. He tugged Robin upright, into a sitting position. In doing so, his eyes caught on the spell flames enveloping Validar's body. Another funeral pyre for the dark mage, feeding on whatever magic was left in his corpse.

' _He tried to play his last attack… and it failed. We did it.'_

"That's the end of him." Robin still sagged in his arms, but Chrom found that he didn't mind. Just then the weight of her was a comfort, and proof that this wasn't any dream. His swordsmanship had helped finish the threat… that and Robin. More than anything, Robin. "Thanks to you we carried the day. We can rest easy now,"

Doubtless that barrier would fall soon. They'd be reunited with the others and could find their way home. This time without a shadow looming over them. Chrom found his way to his feet, pulling Robin up with him. "At long last-"

Robin's breath came out pained, and she flinched against him. Her head lolled to the side… and he saw that there was a strange red quality to her eyes. The red flecks were back on her cheeks, like wounds that refused to heal.

"What's wrong-?" No answer, save for a pained noise in the back of her throat. Her face listed to one side, eyes fighting between staring at him… or staring at something else he couldn't see. She couldn't seem to hear him either, and could barely focus on him no matter how he tried to hold her close and give her an anchor. "Hey-"

But he had to try again. To stop whatever was hurting her. "Hey, lo-"

The word cut out with a wet slicing noise, and a slam of pain in his gut. He staggered away from Robin, hand going to a wound in his stomach. Sparks of something bit at his fingers, his hand tightening around a bolt of spell fire lodged in his flesh. His scales tried to push against the magic, but it was a losing battle. Numbness and pain fought for control in the spot, and it was a struggle to lift his head from the wound.

Robin stared between him, and where magic still crackled across her fingertips. Disbelief, horror, and confusion all warred on her face. And then… shame, when her eyes met his.

"This…" his voice was choked, words and breath both in short supply. But he had to let her know. "This is not your fault-" He tried more assurances, his hearing going dim with each word. And his grip going slack where the spell had been.

Strange. There'd been fire in his blood a moment ago, and a blazing agony where that spell had been. Yet now there was only a cold ripple spreading out from it.

But the fire in his blood refused to die without a fight, and pushed back. His flesh wanted to melt, to escape from the prison and pain that was forced on it. But through that, he still managed a few more words. And still kept his focus on Robin.

"Promise me, you'll escape from this place-" Because a part of him was terrified that everything was falling apart. And that she wouldn't be spared when the fire swept over his body. "Please… go-"

He pitched forward, eyes breaking from hers as he crashed to the ground.

And a fire licked over his form, all while a mocking laughter echoed through the chamber.


	64. Ties and Bonds

**Chapter 64: Ties and Bonds**

Chrom hit the floor, and the bottom of the world dropped out. Lucina barely felt the tiles smack into her knees as she fell to them. The world wouldn't stop lurching, swirling around her in a broken up haze. She heard the other Shepherds shouting, but their voices and words blurred together. Lucina thought she could pick out a dragon hurling itself out of a blaze of fire. It threw itself into the barrier with a maddened howl, blue scales clashing against violet magic as it furiously tried to claw through.

' _Morgan-'_

The thought barely sunk in. Her eyes stayed fixed on the form laying flat on the stones, the flames licking along his limbs.

The same fire danced across her, sinking blue and white tongues into her clothing and flesh. Tears stung Lucina's eyes, both from the blaze in her blood and the sight in front of her.

"F-fath-" she couldn't work so much as one word out of her throat. Just like that, hope had died with a crackle of electricity and a single spell blade.

A crack echoed along her forehead, the horns spreading and breaking more skin. Blood seared down the side of her face, her cheeks grew coated with scales.

"Father-!" Her voice faded, in favor of a scream.

She remembered, faintly, a howl like the one leaking out of her throat. One that had cut through dry desert air instead of a shadowed tomb. Only now SHE was the one screaming her grief, not her father.

 _'Dead-'_

And her voice was distorting, the flames sweeping over and encasing her. Feeding on her cries, they rushed down her throat, distorting her voice into a roar. The wings on her back beat at the fire, turning it into an inferno. Owain flinched away from the heat, as did Cynthia, while Inigo threw an arm out to try and cover them both.

Even Tiki shrank from the sight and sound. Only one figure remained unmoving, watching her with utmost interest. Motes of magic stirred in the air around him, reforming his body and healing any wounds he'd taken.

"The Emblem has increased my magic tenfold; even a strike from the vessel is no longer enough to fell me." The magic dimmed around the figure.

"Ha... so you finally lose your grip, little princess." Validar strode towards her, the barrier dissipating around him. Lucina glared at him, as her skull and face gave way with a violent crack. The remnants of her skin went up like tallow, leaving only a dragon's visage behind. The rest of her body followed, fire and rage bursting free.

She glared down at Validar from the end of a long serpentine neck, and bared fangs at him. Dragon fire rumbled in the back of her throat, and an answering growl came from where Morgan lay; the other dragon was finding his way back to his feet, and prepared to lash out at Validar.

Yet the sorcerer remained unmoved, gazing at them both like an artist examining a great work.

"Be still now. With the Gemstones, my power is without limit." He gestured down to the shield, clutched in his other hand. Fire spat out of Lucina's jaws-

It never touched Validar, scorching the ground around him in a ring as her fangs clamped shut. Her body wouldn't listen to her, no matter how she wanted to rend Validar asunder.

' _Tear ANYTHING apart. It doesn't matter.'_ The thought slid into her brain, and the world turned a little more red. The shadows cloaked everyone, making them indistinct; friend and foe bled together.

A part of her froze at that; this was wrong. Her thoughts were _wrong-_

Just like the shape her body had taken was wrong. The human part of her flinched away from what had happened to her… and the rage in her heart gladly swept over, taking command.

"You and your brother will make worthy servants to Grima. Thanks to the blood in you." Validar's words slid into her ears with the same oily quality as that violent thought. The five gemstones glimmered on the Fire Emblem, an almost hypnotic light that blended with Validar's voice.

"I believe I'll start with having you cull the other children. No more traveling back to try and undo what should be... but I suspect you will make even better monsters than your father EVER did, in the old future."

She felt a vice like grip closing around her mind. Fire built again in her throat, and her head swiveled around to face the Shepherds instead. Her body, twisted into the new shape, moved on invisible strings; bound to Validar's orders. In the corner of her eye, she saw the violet and blue streaked dragon do the same. Morgan's new form yanked its head back and forth, trying to resist the commands… but failing as the scales on his neck glowed.

Cynthia stared up at her with wide eyes, while Owain uselessly brought his sword up. Lucina wanted to shut her eyes against what was about to happen… but they had turned traitor on her as well.

"Now then, let all become ash- GHK!" Validar's words cut out with a strangled gurgle. Just like that the grip on her body vanished. Lucina snapped her head up, scorching the ceiling with her flames as Morgan did the same. The inside of the Table turned bright as day for a split second.

In the corner of her eye, she could pick out Validar falling to one knee, doubled over in pain. He stared down at the blade cutting through his side.

"Aim... definitely took a... a hit. Was trying to get his heart." She knew that voice, but it was impossible. Just as impossible as the blade cutting through Validar. Lucina twisted her neck around to stare at where the sword had come from.

Blue light glimmered along her father, rising up in faint licks of ghostly flame. He looked half like a wraith himself, barely keeping his feet. One of his arms hung at his side, limp from where he'd thrown his sword. His other hand stayed clamped over the rent in his ribs, blood leaking out between his fingertips.

Lucina's nostrils flared; the air should have been thick with his blood, instead of the faint thread of scent she could pick out. Morgan gave a snort of his own, his scales making a faint whisper as he shook from disbelief. Chrom stared up at both of them, locking eyes to prove that he was still alive.

Robin held him up. Her wings were drawn in tight around them. One arm supported Chrom. The other... the other gripped Argent. The gemstone washed over her with silver light. The sight loosened the rage in Lucina's head, and seemed to dim Validar's presence.

The dark mage must have sensed it as well. He wrenched the sword free from his body, the blade spattering blood as it clanged against the stones. But all of Validar's focus was on Argent.

"How can this-!?" Validar spat out.

"You never had all of the Gemstones, Validar. I switched Argent out before we ever left Valm." Robin answered, the brown of her eyes meeting his. The other red eyes in her face turned their anger on him, blazing in defiance. "Your control isn't as absolute as you think."

As proof of that, Lucina's talons gave a twitch, scrapping lines into the floor. Her tail lashed, movement granted to it as she wrested a little more control free from Validar. The sorcerer's hands seemed to mirror her claws, scrapping at the Emblem as he desperately tried to keep a hold on the situation.

"The damned Exalt should be dead! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?" He spat out.

"Robin... turned her strike. She spared me..." Chrom drew his hand away, showing the wound already closing. He still shook on his feet, but favored Validar with a quick smirk. The taste of his blood in the air was diminishing, and he seemed to lose the shaking in his legs with each breath he took.

"Still hurts, but it wasn't a killing blow. Argent... and her bonds. They saved her, just like they saved me."

It was a wonder Validar didn't bend the metal of the Emblem, with how he curled his fingers into it. He looked like he wanted to dig his fingers into Chrom's neck instead.

"Damn all of you! I can still kill you myself, without the full power of the Emblem!"

Chrom stood up a little straighter, flexing his hand. Strength was already flowing back into his grip, evidenced by the claws growing from his fingers. He brought them up to bear against Validar. And in answer, Lucina gave a growl of her own, tensing and waiting for Validar's control to fade a little more, so she could join the fight.

"Ready to end this, Robin?"

"Ready. I want to see what our real future has in store for us."

-o-o-o-

Lissa was going to kill him for this, never mind that the plan was for him to sidestep death entirely. And it seemed to be working so far. The hole in his side was trying to knit up, and his blood favored fire instead of leaking out of his body completely.

That didn't keep it from hurting. This wasn't anything like Lissa or Maribelle's healing. It was a knife taken hot from the forge and applied directly to the skin, shooting pain and adrenaline both into his brain.

The world blurred around him, details going hazy before snapping into painful detail; he could count the gold stitch work in Validar's robes… at least, when the fire the sorcerer called up didn't threaten to sear into his vision and blind him.

Chrom tore himself away from Robin, rolling along the ground. Pain scrubbed out his senses when his wound hit the tile, leaving a splotch of red steaming on the floor. It turned black when Validar's fire shot past it, scorching the stones.

His claws hooked onto the floor with a shriek, stopping Chrom short as he wrenched his head back upright. He glared at Validar, daring the mage to make another attack. Behind him the left over fires of the last spell burned, the heat nipping at his back.

Validar narrowed his eyes at Chrom before snapping his fingers with a curt motion. A flare of bright light scorched Chrom's back, and with a jolt he realized Validar's last attack hadn't finished.

"LOOK OUT!" Robin screamed, slamming hard into his side. A blast of heat seared Chrom, blistering the tips of his wings. By reflex he tightened his arms around Robin before they crashed to the floor. Robin gasped from the heat and pain, but still bolted upright.

"Q-quick, give me-" She didn't have to finish the sentence, and Chrom put his hand in hers. His skin seemed to crackle when she pulled him to his feet, and sweat stung at his eyes. With each breath he took, a few more scales flickered along the border of his face… but he was still alive. And almost human in shape and mind-

He couldn't say the same for Lucina, and Chrom bit back an oath when he saw the blue dragon hissing, coiling her back for a strike. Nearby, a darker beast lurked, fire streaming from its jaws. The orange light picked out flecks of violet and night-blue in its scales.

' _Oh gods-_ 'He'd seen SOMETHING flicker and change beyond Validar's veil, but he hadn't thought things had gotten that bad. There was no sign of their children now, and a wildness lurked in the eyes of the dragons. For a moment he thought he saw the brands flicker to life in their irises… but rage clouded over the marks just as quickly.

And all of that fury was directed on the man standing in front of them. Validar had slipped between one space and another in a blink, and still held the Emblem. The remaining gemstones were like stars, feeding off his power. And apparently holding the dragons still in their tracks, much as they snarled in a way that showed they wanted to rend Validar limb from limb.

"You damnable child. I'll enslave you if it kills me…" Validar hissed out, the glow of the gemstones painting gaunt shadows on his face. When he raised a hand to the dragons, his fingers looked like talons in their own right. The first dragon snarled again, thrashing her head back and forth. Validar's fingers tightened around the air, his nails curling like each one was a point, pressing into the dragon's skull-

Violet fire flared in Validar's hand, and Chrom wondered if he was trying to burn Lucina's identity away. Morgan's head was lowered, the scales on his sides fluttering. His breathing seemed to be coming harder now, maybe thanks to the superheated air in his lungs. The flames streaming from his teeth caught a flash of Validar's teeth, bared in a feral grin that matched Lucina's snarl.

Those same flames caught highlights on a sword that lay between Chrom and Validar. The same sword Validar had pulled from his ribs.

"Can you get his attention long enough-?" Chrom whispered, only for Robin to give a nod. She broke from him, running in a wide circle and readying a jagged lance of lightning. It tore the air asunder when it raced towards Validar-

Only to get blocked by the Emblem itself when he turned to face Robin. Validar fixed his eyes on her, ready to counterattack. He curled his fingers… and with a horrible wrench, Chrom saw Lucina raise her head to Robin. Fire rumbled in the back of her throat. Morgan snaked his head out, fangs bared and fire glowing on the inside of his mouth.

"Morgan? Lucina-!?" Robin blurted out. "But…"

"They both lost their grip on her humanity, when they saw you kill Chrom." Validar sneered. "And though _she_ might have seized control for a moment, and your son may have faltered in surprise… I still hold the Emblem. I can make them both my thralls. There's enough of your blood in them for that."

Robin froze at that. Chrom forced himself to grab the sword, a brief push from his wings giving him a little more momentum.

"As long as I hold this, I have control! I have power! And your trifling magic can't hope to match-"

Chrom rushed Validar, slashing down. But again, Validar caught the blade with the Emblem. The two metal objects stayed locked, cracks forming along the blade's edge. Validar looked ready to laugh at Chrom for trying to bring a mundane sword to the fight-

That laugh died when Chrom dropped the sword, and brought his talons into play. The claws on his hand were tempered from Validar's spells, sharper than before and up to the task of slicing into fabric and flesh both. Chrom tried not feel sick from the sensation shivering through his fingers.

"Th-THORON!" Robin screamed one last spell out, and it sliced into Validar's back. The sorcerer never screamed from the dual attack… only made a choked gasp of disbelief, as the pressure against Chrom's claws abruptly relented. Chrom bulled past the mage, turning around to look at the results.

The Emblem rang like a bell as it bounced against the tiles.

The long black of Validar's sleeve cloaked his arm, hiding some of the blood and grisly work. That limb stretched across the floor, ripped from his body. The Emblem lay with it, Validar's disembodied fingers still gripping the shield in vain.

Validar stood apart, staring at the lost arm as if he could will it back into place. But neither answered, and the gemstones lost their glow in the dead limb's grip. Shock and disbelief both gripped Validar's face… and his head turned slowly from the rumble in Lucina and Morgan's throat, which hadn't abated.

Lucina opened her jaws, and white-blue flames enveloped Validar with a crackle. Morgan answered with a breath of scarlet fire, coating the dark mage completely. Validar's form went black, any thin screams in his throat drowned by the snap of hungry fire. For an instant red blazed in his eyes as his form turned to a blackened husk… and then vanished, as even that turned to ashes.

-o-o-o-

Validar died in the blaze with little more than a gasp and a cry. And with him went the haze in her brain. Lucina sagged forward, her serpentine neck curling in. Next to her, Morgan gave a chest deep shuddering sound, slumping against Lucina. Their scales scraped together, adding to the raspy sound and quality of their breath.

With each breath, more clarity returned to her mind. And with it came a shudder underneath her skin, starting from the wings twitching at her shoulders and ending with her claws scratching the floor.

' _Oh gods-'_ Lucina stared down at her talons. Without grief or rage to cloud her mind, the solid _wrongness_ of her shape sunk in. She wanted to curl in on herself, hide from what she'd just given up. She'd willingly let her body wrench into this shape, given up on hope and humanity both.

' _How… how are we going to change back-?'_ Morgan gave a low, terrified whine in the back of his throat, seeming to think of the same thing. Hot tears threatened to spill from the corners of her eyes-

"Lucina? Lucina, are you…?" Her mother's voice pierced the dread and forced her eyes back open. A hand drifted in front of her, hovering and trying to bridge the gap. On the other end of it was Robin, the scarlet light dimming in her eyes in favor of concern.

But there was something about that red light that still made Lucina hesitate-

"F-far, far away-"

Chrom's voice reached her ears, rough and rattling in his throat. It took her a moment to realize he was trying to create a melody. That he was echoing her own song, in an attempt to comfort her. He rested a hand on Morgan's scaly cheek, and his son responded by sliding his eyes shut.

The sound broke the last of Lucina's nervousness. She nudged her snout forward, resting it under Robin's hand. A soft noise rippled through her throat, and she relaxed under her mother's touch.

"It's okay… we have you back. I promise it will be okay, now that this is over." Robin whispered.

-o-o-o-

Lucina at last relaxed under Robin's hand, the tension draining out of her in favor of trust.

"…Done. It's finally done." Every muscle in Robin's body screamed at her to collapse. It felt like she'd held back a river with her bare hands, and convinced it to flow somewhere else.

What stopped her short was a flutter of sound at her ears. It took Robin a moment of startled blinking to realize it was a chuckle. And there was an uncomfortable, dark tone to it.

She turned towards the voice…

…And a familiar feeling of nausea and terror grabbed her stomach. The world tried to drop out from underneath her, just like before when she saw her own mirror image. The Hierophant stepped out from the gloom ringing the chamber.

"Wait…" Chrom whispered. His shoulder brushed against hers, holding Robin fast against the confusion. "Who- aren't you-?"

"…The Hierophant from Plegia." Robin answered for him. "What… and WHY are you here? Just what are you!?"

The Hierophant lifted her head to Robin, the motion stilted. Like her double wasn't used to moving in a human body.

"…I am you, in a way. The smarter you, who fulfilled her destiny, from a different time."

"Wh-what?" She and Chrom whispered that at the same time.

"I forget how daft I could be in the past... and how I ever felt attachment to any of you is beyond me." Robin's double looked at her from the sides of her eyes. The cowl of her hood shadowed her face… and lent her own eyes a sullen red glow. They fixed Robin in place. "But I will try to explain to you in as few words as possible; you gave in to me when Chrom was mortally wounded. I began laying waste to this world... and I was so close to bringing about the end of humankind, when my once daughter elected to go through to the past."

The Hierophant's eyes slid over Lucina, still coiled in her draconic shape. For her part, Lucina stared back at the Hierophant, wings mantling and teeth bared. A shiver latched onto her back, her scales rustling against the tiles. She seemed to relive the past, as her body shrank from the scarlet gaze. Her tail lashed, and she curled against Robin's side.

"But… you didn't manage to stop Lucina." Robin pointed out, resting a hand on her daughter's head. "I saw as much in a vision, that something pulled your strike-"

Something ached in her chest, right as she recounted that. She wavered in her balance.

"…It seems you took something else from that vision. Yes, something turned my strike… I thought I'd lost all the attachments my mortal shell had, and yet they still surfaced when I tried to kill that girl…"

She moved forward, and Lucina gave a growl, daring to raise her head and meet the red gaze.

"Defiant, I'll give you that much. Validar was right... she and Morgan would make better tools than Chrom ever did. Had I more power, I would be glad to finish what he started." Robin stepped between the Hierophant, shielding her children from the Hierophant's focus.

"You won't touch them, or Chrom."

The Hierophant let out a dark laugh as she watched Robin.

"Why would I need to? I have my claws in them already! I took my pound of flesh from them in one life before; I took my son's memory, and my husband's life." There was almost a purr to the Hierophant's voice. Morgan's claws scuffed the tiles; hurt as he was, the surge of memory likely ached in his head all the more.

"I kept Chrom tethered to the world. I didn't let him fully depart... he was too useful as a weapon."

"…You say that. But that wasn't the only reason, was it." Robin's voice went flat as she stared at the Hierophant, drawing her away from Chrom.

"...Perhaps you DO remember, after all. Yes, I suppose a fragment of my old self still existed, and still couldn't imagine living on without him. Anymore than it could tolerate me killing the whelps this body created." Her eyes flashed a brighter scarlet as she glared at Chrom, and her fingers twitched. "I hated him for that... for keeping me divided into two halves. Having him in a similar state, half mad and trapped as a revenant dragon was a way of returning the favor. And if HE could kill the two thorns in my side, all the better."

Chrom's breath rattled in and out of his throat at that, eyes stretched wide. The blue light burning in them gave his face a gaunt look, and the color warred with red as the Hierophant stared at him.

"I sent him through the portal as well, to chase down Lucina and the others, kill them before they had the chance to interfere. For all the good he did; I felt him die within hours of breaching the past."

Chrom tensed at that, like the word was a blow. The Hierophant only gave him a disdainful look, before continuing.

"I knew that if Lucina succeeded, I would cease to be. I traveled to the past as well, and attempted to merge with you there. Alas, since you weren't awakened, your mind was too frail. I was worried I broke it completely with my attempt." A vision flared up in Robin's mind; a still, quiet field she'd been walking through, before a rent opened before her. Hands gripping her on either side of the head as she stared into a strange mirror image of her own face-

"...YOU were why I lost my memories!?"

"My poor past self... I've been orchestrating everything up to this moment. Waiting for my revival to be absolute. I may have been a shade of my former self up until now... but no longer."

The earth seemed to hum underneath her, something rumbling in the foundations of the tower. The Hierophant gave Robin a rictus grin, as spots of blood colored light flecked along her cheeks.

"You're not-" Robin tried to say, only for the Hierophant to cut her off with a cackle.

"Oh a **N** d I su **PPOSE** y **OU** **WILL STOP ME** ," the Hierophant's voice twisted, stretched out into something guttural and hissing at the same time. The chamber echoed with power, as the stones pitched again.

" **I am no longer diminished. My body lays beneath the stones, and the blood spilled here is fuel enough, along with the Emblem. And at last I wake, since you brought the last gemstone into my presence."** Robin smashed into the floor as it buckled underneath her feet. Chrom did the same, curling in on his side. She knew he'd hit his ribs in the fall.

All around her the others stumbled, either with pained noises or a rattle of armor. Even Nowi and Tiki couldn't shift in time to escape the waves pitching through the ground. The pegasus shrieked in panic, overbalanced in the first wave and feet churning uselessly against the ground.

Only Morgan and Lucina stayed standing, out of all of them. Lucina crouched over Robin, growling with each pitch of the earth. Morgan swept his tail up against Chrom, trying to give his father something to hold onto. And through it all, the laughter of the Hierophant echoed, pinning their children in place.

The Hierophant dissolved away... but a collection of black tendrils lashed out at them as she faded. Her idea of a parting gift, no doubt. Robin ducked to the side, only for Lucina to surge forward with a growl. Her wings flared out, forming a flesh and blood shield for the Shepherds.

The shadows struck her daughter like a thousand arrows, drawing a pained hiss from Lucina the same time they drew blood. The droplets leaked from her scales and sizzled on the bricks. Lucina fanned her wings in answer, pushing the spell back.

Robin could see that it wasn't done yet; one of the tendrils was snaking out towards something glimmering on the floor. Resting right where Validar had burned.

 _'No, you don't get to take THAT too.'_ Robin snapped her hand out, and felt one last flare of lightning leap from the pages of the tome, out onto her outstretched arm. The lightning jumped from her fingers and sliced through the black tendrils like a blade, cutting them off. The dark spell shriveled and died from the onslaught, while the pages of her tome smoked and crinkled from the energy she'd used to channel. Robin didn't pay either much mind, stumbling to where the glimmering object lay on the floor.

She stared down at the Fire Emblem, none the worse for wear. With her free hand she scooped it up, breathing a little easier as she held it.

All around them the temple roiled from ceaseless tremors, and Robin knew that something massive was stirring underneath the foundations. She clutched the shield tight to her chest; it was the only thing keeping her form from stretching out any further.

She swore the shield gave her a little more strength. Just enough to fan her wings out without fear, and help her find her balance.

Robin shut her eyes for a moment, before letting her tome drop from her hand. The book had no right to hit the stones with as much volume as it did. Her sword followed it, and Robin buckled the Emblem to her side, in place of her weapons.

With that done, she turned her focus to the others.

"Everyone, move!"

-o-o-o-

The stone halls groaned like a dying creature. It was enough to push Chrom forward, hoping that the stone ceiling wouldn't decide to drop down on their heads just then.

"EVERYONE, GET OUT!" Getting a hole torn into him hadn't done too much against his voice. Chrom was glad of that, and how it got every one of the Shepherds to turn and flee. None of them questioned his commands, and the crash of stone as columns were knocked over only got them to hurry.

Strands of dust pattered his skin as Chrom struggled to move. He was lucky to keep his feet, and just stagger forward. No stitches in his side from a mile long run could compare to how much he hurt now, how much pain flared through him when he tried to run-

"Got you." Robin said, right as her arm circled around his shoulders. She took his weight and carried them forward.

Ahead of them, Lucina did her best to stay on her feet, tail lashing and wings fanning for balance. Chrom bit back a curse as the hallway shuddered, almost knocking her over-

The wall stopped her short, with a pained screech. Morgan blundered into her side… but that was enough to hold Lucina upright. The two dragons clawed their way forward through the seething hallway, trying to keep from blocking the passage.

Tiki and Inigo rushed up to the dragons, Inigo putting a hand on Lucina's scaly shoulder to prompt them forward. Tiki attended to Morgan, murmuring something to help him along.

Over the screams of stone, Chrom could pick out their words.

"No falling over, oh fearless leader. That wouldn't make for much of a song, would it?"

"Sword dancer... please focus more on escaping than on poetry at the moment." Tiki answered. She guided Morgan forward. "We're almost there…"

Ahead of them loomed a massive rectangle of pale light. It shivered like a leaf torn by the winds, struggling to hold onto its shape as the weight of the ruin pressed down on it.

Chrom snapped one wing open, while Robin spread hers. Ahead, Lucina did the same with both wings, throwing herself forward. Her talons seized around Inigo, while the others snatched up Cynthia.

Morgan was already falling through the entrance, pulling Owain along with him as his wings fanned out, giving them both the extra push they needed to clear the way. Tiki glowed for a moment, before a white dragon took her place and acted as a guiding light.

The last of them shot out of the ruins and into the desert. They didn't land neatly. Chrom smashed into the sand, glad for the pain and the grain digging into his skin. It was proof they were alive, somehow.

For now.

The remains of the Dragon's Table caved in behind them, turning into a hump of broken masonry. A second later, the wreckage stirred as something roared, stretching out wide feathered wings through chinks in the stone and bursting through the rubble. Those wings were a strange echo of Robin's, and he felt them brush against his skin as Robin tightened her grip on them. A second roar echoed like a hurricane, as the wings pushed down and pulled something MASSIVE from the ruins. The shape shook aside boulders of granite like it was carelessly flicking aside water.

He'd seen that shape only once before. In Lucina's dream. Before it had been a nightmare. Now it still left him with a dry throat and a hammering heart, but there was no waking up from what he saw.

Grima. Returned to flesh.


	65. Dark Horizon

**Chapter 65: Dark Horizon**

"What do we do now?" Chrom whispered. Lucina crouched next to him, eyes stayed fixed on the sky, and the massive wings pushing the fell dragon up into the sky. The height did nothing to diminish the creature's mass. The dragon could have been a mountain, suddenly made airborne.

Lucina shuddered as she looked up at it... and not just from the threat looming above them. Her body felt like it was straining at the seams. The last bit of time granted by Argent was running out. From the way Morgan slumped against her, how his sides fluttered and struggled for air and his wings mantled, Lucina knew it wasn't just the case for her.

She dipped her head low in defeat, feeling the strangeness in her neck and letting out a broken growl.

' _I promised I'd change things for us. But now the Emblem is gone, and we may as well be lost-'_

"Gods… and the Emblem-" Chrom sounded just as broken, just as close to defeat as he rested a hand against Lucina. Trying to keep her grounded for at least a moment more, before the urge to leap into the sky became overpowering.

"Sorry Chrom... Lucina." Robin's voice pulled Lucina from the sight of Grima, and paused the tight sensation spreading across her skin. "But I must correct you. We aren't lost yet."

"What do you mean…?" Chrom looked between Robin and Grima, his eyes shot wide open; fear was trying to dominate his mind. "We lost the Emblem-"

"What, you mean this Emblem?" Robin swept her robe aside as she spoke... and there, belted to her side, was the golden shield.

"I dropped the Thoron tome in favor of it..." her voice hitched a little as she spoke. "It was almost used up, anyway. I-I may... miss it a little, but I know our priorities."

Robin blinked her eyes clear, the red glow fading. With each blink the holes in her face finally closed, the extra eyes seemingly dissolving back into her cheeks.

"B-besides," Robin continued, trying to keep her voice light. "Given that I've stolen it from you, I think it's only fair that I stole it back."

"You sly creature," Chrom actually managed a laugh, one that was contagious with the way Lucina's breath huffed out. She was a faint bit embarrassed that smoke billowed out of her nostrils.

"Well, will you do the honors?" Robin met Lucina and Morgan's gaze, holding out the Emblem to them. Lucina stretched her claw out, letting the Emblem rest against her paw. Morgan hooked a single talon into the Emblem, prying the fake silver gem loose.

Carefully, Chrom rested his hand over Robin's as she placed Argent back in its proper place. Morgan and Lucina held the shield steady. All five Gemstones gave a bright shine, turning the world into a blinding flash of light. Lucina felt the light sweep over her in a gentle wave, and all the tension, all the fear in her melted away, along with her wounds and her savage form.

The light cleared, and Lucina stared down at her hands; _human_ hands, no longer coated in scales and claws. Her skin looked pale, oddly fragile, her nails looking stubby compared to what she'd had before... but she'd never been more glad to see them.

"Still no hope, Lucina?" Robin put on a faint smile as she asked, and Lucina found herself echoing it as she shook her head.

"We have a chance now..." She whispered. Even at a hushed volume, it felt strange to hear her own voice again, and lack any fire in her mouth. "I remember the tales. If we can make it to Mount Prism, we can perform the Awakening there." She reached up, stretching her fingers out before closing them on Chrom and Robin both. "You're still here... we have a small hope left."

"Better than none at all." Chrom answered. "We've no reason to stay in Plegia any longer."

"…And to think I just spent all this time riding to meet with you." Came a new voice, sounding a touch gruff and a pound exasperated. One Lucina hadn't heard in months, and was half scared she never would again.

"B-Basilio?" She turned to see the Feroxi leader, one hand on an axe to help hold him upright.

"Hell's teeth girl, I didn't think your plan called for THAT." Basilio continued. He stared straight up at the skies, and the dark shape winging off towards the horizon. There was still a roughness to his voice, but at least he could use his throat now.

"There was a bit of a complication," Robin admitted.

"I didn't know you had a talent for understatement on top of everything else." That was Flavia, stepping up beside Basilio. A string of Feroxi soldiers fanned around them, acting as an honor guard… but not nearly enough to pose a challenge to the Fell Dragon.

"Doesn't seem to be in a hurry to snuff us all out." That was Owain, who couldn't seem to make up his mind on if that was a relief or a disappointment.

"It could be that Grima isn't at full strength just yet." Robin murmured. "And we might have just enough time to gather a counter attack."

With that, Robin turned to look at Chrom. He lifted his head to where Frederick stood.

"Frederick... can you ride? Are all of us fit to travel?"

"I think I'm finally capable of that, milord, as are the rest of us. And I've heard tales of Mount Prism as well, enough that I know the rough direction of it. You have orders?"

"Yes. Tell the Shepherds to ready themselves, and take only what they need. We ride hard for Ylisstol and Mount Prism now."

-o-o-o-

Morgan shivered a little, once the wind traced through his hair. He swore that the breeze was coaxing him upwards, away from the earth.

Even days into his human form, Morgan found himself keeping his eyes up on the sky. With the somber mood holding the Shepherds and stilling talk, there wasn't much else to do while they rode and marched.

Like a bad dream, the crimson skies fell away as they rushed back home. By the time they crossed into the border of Ylisstol and moved over the green fields, there was barely a trace of the fell dragon. The great black shape was little more than a nightmare… though one that had a habit of visiting his dreams on a nightly basis.

Yet they all knew Grima was still out there. The sun felt a little weaker, a little more watery. And the Risen hadn't given up their attacks, either. The difference now was that Lucina, Robin, Chrom, and Morgan himself could fight on the front lines now. All without any fear of losing themselves.

Dragon form wasn't something he'd willingly take on, though. Not any longer. The Emblem made for a good bandage against their wounds, but it was only that. Relying too much on the full shape would be a good way to lose themselves completely.

With the way Lucina hunched her shoulders, he wasn't the only one with troubled thoughts. They weighed heavy on his sister's head, kept her eyes fixed down. Even though Mount Prism formed a hazy shape on the horizon, her eyes didn't focus on it. Only on her own steps, no matter how far they took her from the main force.

"Hey. You don't have anything crazy going through your head, right?" He tried to put on his best smile. "The offer to cut apples with Falchion still stands, in case you are."

Lucina's answer was to snap a hand over her sword, before realizing he was joking.

"No, Morgan. So no idle threats." Lucina grumbled. Something in her words tried to make that comment the end of the conversation. Instead Morgan kept his eyes on her, and she finally gave up more information with a sigh. "I was just… wondering what to do next. If there's a faster way to Mount Prism than by foot."

' _Oh.'_

"Y-Yeah, there is but…" He tried to say.

"If it's the one I'm thinking of, then it's not an option at all." Lucina sighed. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground... and hurried her step, shoulders staying hunched. With the way her back coiled, it seemed like she was fighting to keep something under the skin.

"I've… been having dreams of it, though." Lucina admitted, a dark look settling around her eyes. There was vulnerability to her voice that he'd seldom seen or heard before, at least when others were present. But now, it seemed like cracks were starting to show. And they only deepened the further she walked. "I sometimes wake up… only now it feels like _I'm_ in the wrong shape."

Her voice dropped to a whisper, eyes darting about to make sure no one overheard. Lucina glanced at her own hands… almost not convinced they weren't supposed to look like that, no matter how she flexed or curled them.

Morgan thought of a use for his own hands, setting one on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's not just you. I… sometimes dream about that, too." And woke up with shivers and sweats, and with his eyes trained on the canvas ceiling as though he could stare past that to the sky. Morgan decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut on that last part.

"I know… though a part of me _wishes_ it was just me. You shouldn't have to shoulder this."

"Morgan, that's what I'm supposed to say. I'm the eldest, remember? I'm supposed to look after you-" And from the sound of it, she didn't know how to do that. Or at least hadn't decided on it. Her hand tightened on the hilt of Falchion again.

-o-o-o-

Lucina fought back another sigh, while Morgan easily kept the pace with her. Lucina found herself lengthening her stride, to put a little more distance between her, Morgan, and the Shepherds.

"I just… I keep dreaming. Of what happened at the Table."

Would that she could outpace the thoughts darkening her mind. But they lingered all the same. The image of the Dragon's Table loomed in her mind, and the specter of Grima. And no matter how she tried, she couldn't leave Morgan behind… Particularly when he rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm honestly shocked that I never figured out what was really happening, until now… I have to wonder if you'd do a better job than me, if you still had all your memories."

"Luci," Morgan's voice took on a warning note.

"Think about it, Morgan; the message in our time that father and mother were seemingly cut down and vanished… and then the increase of Risen. And finally Grima, bringing about ruin-"

"LUCI. Being a little hard on yourself, don't you think? And the fact is, I didn't figure it out either… though I guess it explains all the pain in the eyes. Two conflicting bloodlines, both trying to manifest." Morgan answered. Lucina stared down, fingers releasing Falchion and tugging at the sleeve. The six eyed brand stared back at her, still marred by scar tissue. Morgan rolled his shoulder and took his hand back, likely trying not to focus too much on how his skin itched underneath the robe.

"Besides, don't you think there's at least a little bit of a victory here? Aside form the whole world in danger of ending, I mean." Lucina snorted at that… though it seemed like Morgan expected more of an answer than that.

"Morgan, I… I traveled back in time for Father. And Mother. I just-" The image of the Hierophant jumped into her eyes again. The woman that used to be her mother, her features twisted into that of a stranger. And Lucina herself blanketed in scales, a far cry from the daughter she wanted, _needed_ to be. "…I wasn't expecting any of this. Gods, but I wonder if I was a fool this entire time. Thinking that I could change fate, when Grima has returned-"

Morgan quickened his space and stepped right in front of her, crossing his arms and scowling at her. It forced Lucina to stop short, her head jolting up from the mark to stare at him.

"You say I'm smart, that I could have figured things out sooner if I had all my memories?" He shot back at her. "Well, maybe even if I DON'T have all my memories, I can still put together a few things! Mother and Father are still alive. We have the Emblem. WE'RE all still here, and if you can pull yourself together then we'll have a real advantage! You're the once and future Exalt, remember? And you DID change things."

He pointed over her shoulder, towards the main column on the march. Lucina found herself following his hand, the motion jostling Falchion. And there near the front of the troops was Chrom. Overhead, the pegasus knights flew, and Lucina thought she could pick out the black of Robin's robes against a white horse.

"…You know, sometimes you take a lot of living up to." Lucina mumbled, brushing her hand over Falchion again. It was still a strong blade… and needed a strong person to wield it, with whatever they faced next. "But… thanks, Morgan."

And if nothing else, he helped her decide what she needed to do next.

-o-o-o-

Lucina had an odd way of giving out praise. And an even odder way of following it up with silence. Morgan watched her, trying to figure out some way of breaking the quiet but coming up with a blank.

Her hand drifted over her sword, fingers twitching on the grip. A grim look settled across her face, and a sour feeling tried to anchor itself in Morgan's throat.

' _She just promised she isn't going to do anything dumb with Falchion. Try trusting her with that?'_ His thoughts prodded. Lucina stared down at the blade, fingers tracing the red leather of the grip before resting on the golden pommel.

"Morgan, I meant what I said. It'll take some living up to you; you still have a lot of fight left in you. And I'm pretty sure you feel… confident about any battles we might face."

"Well… more like I don't worry about what's ahead, because I'm pretty sure we'll work our way through it."

"Same thing." Lucina shot back, and he swore there was a wry laugh in her voice… and a little more bitterness in her face. "Either way, I think that…"

She trailed off, her hands going to the belt and scabbard at her side. With clink, she parted the buckle… and held Falchion out to him.

' _I thought I just convinced myself she wasn't going to do anything dumb.'_ He told himself, and stared in confusion at the sword.

"Morgan. Take it." Lucina pressed the sword forward, insistently.

"B-but that's YOUR weapon!" Morgan answered that insistence by backing up.

"Yes, and it's my right to decide who else should wield it… Don't worry, I don't plan on dying any time soon." She cut off his protest and the worried look on his face, before either could fully form. "But… Morgan, the fact is there's still fire in my blood. I'm still working on control-"

"You think I'm not?" Morgan tried to protest.

"No… but the fact is I trust the sword more with you than anyone else. Including me at the moment." Lucina held the sword up, still pressing it towards him. "Morgan… could I ask you to at least take it for my own peace of mind?"

' _She knows me a bit too well.'_ Morgan thought… but still found himself extending his hands. He couldn't say no when she phrased it like that; like he could help her stand a little taller, by taking up the sword for her.

"Ok… but only for the time being, as a temporary thing." Morgan tightened his hands around the scabbard. And prayed that he'd be able to give it back soon.

-o-o-o-

"Okay, Robin?" Sumia kept her voice low, helping Robin out of the saddle of the pegasus. Robin's answer was clinging tight to the rider's fingers, and she didn't ease her grip until her feet touched the ground.

"M-mostly." She managed, and felt a ridiculous flash of pride that her voice didn't growl, and her words weren't accompanied by fire. She scuffed her feet against the grass for added reassurance. The plants brushed her shoes with a rustle, reminding her that she was still beholden to the ground, and that at least here things still held onto life.

And that the only thing in the skies, for now, were pegasus and wyvern riders. Still no sign of the fel dragon, which Robin was thankful for.

"Yes, mostly." Robin repeated. "We covered a lot of ground, have a guess on when we should reach Mount Prism and what the best routes will be. I think that was a productive flight."

"Ok, good." Sumia nodded to that, still pleased at being able to provide help. "Though um… in that case, could you let go of my hand? You're squishing my fingers."

Robin all but flinched her grip away, while Sumia massaged her hands.

"Thanks; you know, you've gotten a LOT better at being in a saddle. Compared to when we first met, and had to teach you on the way towards Ferox." Robin nodded at that, calling up what had turned into a distant memory.

"To be fair, I think I've gained a head _and_ an appreciation for heights." She tried for humor… but something about that comment made her own stomach go into knots. Maybe just from knowing where her longing for the sky came from.

"Sumia …Do you regret making a friend out of me?" Robin found herself asking.

"What!? Why would I?"

"You mean aside from almost being a pawn of Validar, almost killing Chrom, and not being able to stop Grima?" Now her voice had turned sardonic, though Sumia didn't seem to find any of the questions all that funny.

' _Grima's blood.'_ She thought to herself, balling her hand into a fist so she wouldn't be tempted to look at it, or the mark upon it.

"…Point being Sumia, I'm not exactly the perfect Ylissean- OW!"

Robin stopped short, wincing and rubbing at her head. When he hand untangled from her hair, she found herself staring at a walnut, likely from the camp stores.

"You know, I'm going to say that was fully justified." Came Lissa's voice. "If what I overheard was anything to go by."

"…Owww." Was Robin's best response. She didn't think the food could sting _that_ much, but on top of healing it seemed Lissa had a good throwing arm. Although Lissa didn't seem inclined to heal Robin of that welt growing on her head, as she stomped over to where Robin stood.

"I'm hoping _that_ managed to sink in, if nothing else. I've seen you sulking around camp lately, the same as your kids. And I get that things are dark… but they're going to be a lot darker if we don't have our strategist on her best game." Robin winced at that, but still managed a nod. "Got it? And hopefully you've got that we still all like you? Because even with your dad being a jerk you STILL did what you're best at? Turning a hopeless situation into a fighting chance? _This is sinking in, right?"_

With each word, Lissa took a step closer. Robin found herself pinned between the healer, and Sumia's pegasus… and the rider wasn't in a hurry to move the horse. Sumia might well have been in on Lissa's plan, and loathe as Robin was to admit, it did seem to be working.

At the very least, it made her give Lissa an embarrassed smile.

"Yeah… I think it is sinking in at least a little."

"Good." Lissa said. "Then in that case, healer's orders that you go get some rest. I've seen how hard you've been pushing yourself with planning and patrols, and I think we're as prepared as we can be."

"Or else you'll throw more foodstuffs at me?"

"YEP." Lissa answered with a grin… and Robin decided not to test that claim. Instead she let the girl escort her through the camp.

They had one last campsite to pitch, before Mount Prism was within reach. The peak loomed on the horizon, trying to coax Robin to forget her plans and simply lunge into the air to reach it.

The rest of her, however, knew Lissa had a point and felt ready to collapse face first into his own cot. Lissa seemed to sense her fatigue, finally letting Robin go when they reached the entrance to the tent and quietly excusing herself.

"Well… looks like Validar was wrong about one more thing." Robin told herself while walking towards the tent. "That's getting more and more true with each day-"

A pair of arms rested on her shoulders, keeping her upright and stilling Robin before she could escape into the tent.

"Are you holding up?" Came Chrom's voice. The arms circled around her, pulling her close and bumping her against his chest. Robin sighed in answer, slumping against him and letting her head tilt back and rest against his shoulder.

"Aside from flying walnuts, yeah." It said something that Chrom wasn't that confused by the statement, only giving a brief chuckle.

"Another long march..." Robin murmured. "Years of practice and it STILL feels like my legs are going to fall off. How do you do it?"

"Stubbornness, mainly." Chrom answered, turning her around so he could see Robin. "What have you found from your patrol?"

"A handful of good things..." she rested her hands on his chest and turned him away from their camp, towards the mountain. "But some bad things as well."

The sun was setting on the mountains, casting a scarlet light on the peaks.

"Chrom... Ylisse is suffering. The Risen grow unchecked." And looking up, more clouds seemed to form across the sky like a massive bruise. The sun was turning into more and more of a faint dream.

"I know, Robin. I know... I've seen the same ruined farmsteads as you." He squeezed her close, tightening his fingers in the cloth of her hood. The other went up to trace through her hair. "It makes it all the more vital that we make the Awakening occur. We'll do it, Robin... we can't afford to lose."

"Aren't you unnerved by any of what we learned?" She still found herself asking. Her hands skimmed his ribs, but hesitated over touching one spot. She could still picture the spell, glowing as it seemingly fed off of his life.

She'd done her best to turn the spell at the last second… but even then, she hadn't been sure if it had been enough. If she'd spared Chrom from the worst of the damage. And that had stayed the case, until he finally rose from the stones and threw his sword at Validar.

In answer, Chrom closed his hands around hers, and held them against his body. Right over where a scar had to be forming.

"You told me your plan, and it ended up working out." He reminded her. "Things didn't go according to Validar's will, and we changed the course of history… all we have to do now is make sure they _stay_ changed."

Robin dipped her head at that, bumping her forehead to his chin. His breath ruffled her hair, and she swore that she felt a smile against her head.

"Starting of course, by getting you to go to sleep. And I already know that'll be a heroic task to do… but one I'm determined to see through."

-o-o-o-

Chrom opened his eyes to a familiar dark chamber… and an equally familiar and unwelcome stab in his side.

He stared up at Robin's face, saw disbelief flickering in her eyes; the only thing she seemed to control, as red lines spread through her face and her teeth flashed. His side ached before turning cold, and the world grew even dimmer.

 _'This isn't right-'_ they'd escaped the ruins, hadn't they? Why was he seeing this again?

One thing was different, however. He was sure he'd never seen a grin like that trace across Robin's face as she watched him bleed out. It was completely at odds with the way her main eyes stretched out wide in horror. The rest of her eyes narrowed out against her cheeks, squinting at him with a sick pleasure.

"Don't... die-" her voice brushed against his ears. "Don't die. I **t makes things over all too quickly.** "

The pain stung in his side, burned into his body and melted his flesh as Robin smirked down at him.

He twisted into a different shape, and the room twisted with him. The walls melted and shifted to smoke. A city that was kindling for fire took their place, the once white walls of Ylisse turned to pitch. Chrom found himself flying over his former kingdom and watching it burn, helping the inferno continue on. The sharp feeling in his side turned into a dull throbbing pain, echoing with the murmur his heartbeat had turned into; something half dead and held together only by magic.

The scenery shifted again, in favor of something closer to the ground. A wisp of blue and scarlet cut through the buildings. _'Lucina'_ came to his mind, a name for the figure. She called out to other shapes ahead of her and spurring them through a glowing portal.

He folded his wings, plunging after her with a roar… while something inside him wanted to sob over his actions. The girl, Lucina, flinched at his roar, and threw herself into the portal.

Chrom surged after her, wings churning the air and sending him through the portal as well. Sorrow was burned out of his mind, spurred on instead by Robin's voice twisted into a howl. Telling him to kill and burn everything.

The images stopped short as something new pierced his side. He found himself staring up... at himself. A village burned all around them, as his human face looked down at him in confusion. Bandits littered the ground like broken toys, while his human mirror kept the blade of Falchion buried in him. His burning blood spilled onto the town square, the last of his life going with it.

 _'At least now it's at an end.'_ The thought both was his, and wasn't his. Chrom's eyes slid closed, and he felt his shape melt away. When he opened them again, it was to see hands braced against the floor instead of claws. Chrom pulled himself upright, looking around. The world had blurred out, leaving him someplace cold but bright.

Ahead of Chrom stood another, with his same blue hair. When his mirror image turned to look at him, Chrom saw that the man's eyes burned the same blue as the dragon he'd killed, so many years ago.

"I finally understand..." Chrom whispered out, his doppelganger mutely watching him. "These dreams... they were never dreams, were they? They were memories that you put in my head."

The figure's head dipped in a slow nod, his form beginning to flicker around the edges like a dying flame. For a moment Chrom thought he glimpsed a silver scaled dragon behind the man. A heavy burden seemed to rest on the man, combined with regret.

"I'm... I'm sorry I didn't figure it all out until now. I'm not like Robin." Maybe if he had been faster, he could have understood his dreams. What his past self had been trying to warn him of. "But... I'll do whatever I can, until my last breath. I've got the same fire in me that you did, right?"

His doppelganger lifted his face at that, and his gaze lingered on Chrom. The eyes still burned blue, impossible to pick out the pupils... but Chrom saw the set of his mouth and shoulders. They were more relaxed, calmer. The figure lifted his hand out, resting it for a moment on Chrom's scarred shoulder. The fingers and gaze lingered on the cut.

"...It isn't over, I know. And it looks like you aren't ready to rest, either." Chrom met that glowing gaze, feeling determination lock itself into his head and heart. "Don't worry... the fight isn't out of me yet. Not at all."

And hopefully, that would be enough; to keep fighting, no matter what else might await them.

If his reflection had something to say to that, Chrom wasn't sure; the light dimmed all around them. Chrom blinked, trying to focus his eyes against the sudden darkness… only to open them again to the gloom of his tent. Robin curled against him, still dreaming, so at least everything was calm in the waking world.

' _Just remember what you told yourself.'_ Chrom thought. _'That you're still ready to fight.'_


	66. Awakening

**Chapter 66: Awakening**

Mount Prism lived up to its name, Morgandecided. Endless waterfalls cascaded down from the summit, forming a veil of blue and white along the rock face and wreathing the mountain in mist. When the sun shone through, a myriad of rainbows danced in the air.

"Well… there's certainly not a lot that can compare you for this." His mother's voice came from behind him, well and truly hushed from the sight. Lucina's steps had stilled with the others, and the grass rustled as she swayed from foot to foot.

"I…" she whispered, a sound in her voice half like awe and half like pain-

In another second, Morgan understood exactly why. The more he looked at the mountain face, the more a persistent ache settled in his eye. A twinge of that pain echoed in his shoulder… and yet he couldn't bear to look away, either. When he tried to close his eyes, a sudden feeling of loss and sorrow pulsed in his chest.

"I guess they really roll out the welcome for anyone with dragon blood." He managed, seeing if either sensation lessened if he only squinted his eyes.

"What do you mean?" For her part though, Robin seemed confused at what gripped her children-

Or the rest of her family, given the way Chrom, Lissa, and Owain all stilled. Chrom seemed almost entranced by the sight ahead of him, looking like he'd finally arrived home… even though Ylisstol was leagues away.

"Morgan? Lucina? What's wrong?" Robin pressed.

"It's Naga's power, I'm sure of it." Lucina answered. At the edge of his vision, Morgan glimpsed her trying to cover one eye with her hand. He mirrored the motion, with mixed results; the pain in his head faded, but the throbbing in his shoulder seemed to double down. "Gods, every blade of grass and breath of air is saturated with it-"

"…And it sadly doesn't give the same blessing on you. At least not without complications, and not the total comfort it grants others." Tiki answered, regret coloring her voice and seeming to dim the majesty of the mountain.

Dimming the sight enough that Morgan could afford to turn his back on Mount Prism. Tiki had found her way to the front of the group, cradling a gilded container in her arms. Say'ri shadowed her footsteps like an attendant. A similar look of longing crossed Tiki's face… though she still favored Morgan and Lucina with the bulk of her attention.

"Tiki… what is this place doing to them?" Robin refused to stay silent, or idle. She stepped forward, the sleeves of her robes fluttering in the mountain breeze. "And yet… I feel nothing? Is it because-?"

She stopped short, the sleeve of her robe drifting up and exposed the six eyed mark.

"…It's my blood, isn't it?" Robin sighed out, shame a visible weight on her shoulders.

"Yes." One word, but it was enough to make Robin visibly flinch. "One of Fell Blood is deaf and blind to Naga's power… but when that mingles with the line of the Exalt, it results in something different. Those sensitive to both, and caught between both each time their Brands stir… but with luck, that will no longer be the case."

Robin raised her head at that, the same time Morgan did. The borrowed Falchion bumped against his hip and snagged on Lucina's cape, from where she stepped next to him. Chrom blinked at their words, snapping out of his own reverie.

"You mean the Awakening? That can help them?"

"That's my hope, at least." Tiki nodded to him. "They share your blood, we have the Emblem… and it's likely Falchion accepts both of them, though I understand this hasn't been completely put to the test."

"No." Morgan half growled, his mood in danger of souring. Falchion was still an odd weight at his side.

"Still.. if you are prepared-"

"Father is prepared to risk Naga's divine flames. I'd be ashamed not to do the same." Lucina answered, and Morgan forced a nod. Robin froze at that, and Morgan had to blink over her not knowing the full scope of the Awakening ceremony. Lucina had whispered it to him a few scant nights ago… but it seemed Robin and Chrom were busy recovering from the battle, and Robin wasn't spared the time to learn.

"It seems…" Robin started to say, only to stop herself. "Like there's no other way. In that case-"

The color went out of the world for a blink, replaced with ashen gray and stark blacks and whites. Morgan's breath and balance seemed to go with it, as he wobbled and almost crashed to one knee-

Only to bump into Lucina instead. She leaned against him, her sides fluttering as she tried to draw breath. Even though she trembled, she seemed to be the only solid point in a hazy and swimming world.

"What's-?" Chrom's voice seemed to come from miles away.

"Something…" Lucina whispered, right as the color and solidity snapped back into the world.

"Something's coming." Morgan finished. Robin had already frozen from the wave of dark magic, drawing the new sword at her side. A red glow seemed to tinge her eyes, and her lips curled back to show teeth as she brought the weapon up to bear.

In the same moment, Morgan spun around to face a shrouded figure. A guttural, dry throated growl greeted him, along with a pair of blood colored eyes. Morgan fumbled for Falchion… but too slowly, Robin already rushing in and cleaving the thing in two.

"There's Risen here!?" Chrom gasped out. Tiki gave hiss and gasp like she'd just been burned, proof she was just as shocked. She reeled from the creatures, trying to draw her dragon stone and transform.

"…Grima's doing." Robin spat. "I felt a surge of the dragon's power… the god is getting desperate to stop us."

Shouts erupted from the back of the line, along with drawn blades. The Shepherds, gasping and trying to rally a battle cry.

"A pincer attack." Robin continued. "Grima will try to catch us in the valley, sweep through the ranks… and reach us."

Lifting his head, Morgan saw a mass of dark shapes like a blight on the valley, sweeping in from the slopes. The movement of shadows turned into formations, and he swore he glimpsed the strategy for an instant. The Risen were trying to sweep through the back of the lines, and then overwhelm and cut them down before they could reach the true shrine.

' _We'll see how well they can manage that.'_ He grimaced, and repeated his findings to Robin.

-o-o-o-

"We need to…" Chrom hated the way his voice faltered, and the drowsy euphoria that still tried to grip his head. Chrom shook his head back and forth, trying to lurch out of the ease this place had sent him into. And to _act_ and direct his troops. "Need to-"

"Form a group that will take you to the front of the Shrine." Robin answered, looking up from where she and Morgan held a hushed conference. "Also, we need to send our strongest troops to the front of the battle… or is the rear of our troops?"

She blinked, looking just as puzzled as Chrom for a moment, before pointing to the biggest concentration of Risen. "…There. Point being we need to send them there."

"We only need a handful to go with us." Chrom blurted out, taking stock at who was closest on hand. "I'm ready to take on whatever they throw at us, now that we have the Emblem back."

And since the end was in sight. The tranquility of the mountain shifted about and compressed itself in his head, turning into something more resolute.

"Right… Lucina, Morgan. This is as much your fight as ours. You should come. And…"

"And us!" Owain's voice all but exploded, banishing any left over tranquility. Chrom found himself grateful for it, more than anything.

"I should accompany you as well, to ensure the ceremony goes as planned." Tiki's voice was a whisper in comparison, but still resolute. Chrom nodded at that, glad for the more experienced escort.

"And the shards-?" Chrom tried to say… only to trail off when a wooden casket was shoved into his arms, courtesy of Tiki. Despite the silk that lined the inside, he swore he could hear metal rattling about.

"Well, that solves most everything, beyond getting to the shrine." And that at least was a problem Chrom COULD do something about. He slung the box under his arm, drawing his sword with his free hand. "Just point me where to go."

Robin and Tiki exchanged a look, Tiki extending an arm to the foot of the mountain. A stream ran over the grass, the waters giving off a weak shimmer in the presence of the Risen. And beyond the waters and shadowed forces, a gouge opened in the mountain, decorated by pale stone.

As good a target to aim for as any. Chrom locked his vision on that, and rushed the Risen with a howl. Behind him the others fell into formation. Robin was at his side, Morgan and Lucina trailing behind. Lissa and Owain took the rear, Tiki watching over both of them… and a quick glance over his shoulder showed that a few of the children had broken from the main unit and shadowed them.

He couldn't afford to look back for much longer. A bitter, smoky air closed in around his throat and tore at his nose, and Chrom narrowed his eyes before slicing into the Risen.

-o-o-o-

' _This was the right call, wasn't it?'_ Robin tried to assure herself, drawing first smoky blood from the Risen. The others could hold their own… at least that's what she prayed. They were all seasoned fighters now-

' _Though who knows how rested they are, after everything.'_ Her Brand was a coal against her hand, and with each Risen that joined the fight, it felt like more of her skin was crisped away.

' _Try to stay with Chrom! Try to keep up-'_ She urged her legs… but loathed how they turned traitor on her, going weak and heavy. Chrom surged on ahead, the air and aura of this place making him like a gale.

That same aura was doing its best to yank her head in two, dividing her focus. The presence of the Risen buzzed like flies inside her skull.

' _So why not cut them down, and silence the noise?'_ Robin stumbled at the thought, terror clawing at the back of her throat. That felt like her voice… but with it came a thrum of power and a searing pain along the back of her hand.

Grima; the Fell Dragon hadn't, perhaps couldn't pursue them into this place… but the creature COULD send shadows and echoes to harry the Shepherds. And it seemed the Risen danced on the edges of Grima's strings… Evident in how they broke off from attacking the main bulk of the Shepherds, swarming past the flanks to try and reach Chrom. The corpses were heedless of the Shepherd blades cutting into them; the troops cut down a few, a dozen soldiers, but not enough to slow the army of dead, now turned to hounds chasing after Chrom.

And one of them rushed her, coming in from her blind spot.

"MOTHER, LOOK OUT!" Lucina screamed that as she swept between Robin and the spear strike. Robin's breath cut out as the spear found its mark... only to fall to the ground instead of sinking into flesh. Lucina gave brutal counterstrike before she turned to Robin, her tunic in tatters; scales an equally brilliant blue glimmered underneath, covering her chest and stomach in broad bands.

Her eyes glowed blue, and only seemed to grow brighter as she drew more power.

"What are you doing-?"

"Does it matter any longer?" Lucina asked through clenched teeth. Robin already saw them sharpening out into fangs, as Lucina pulled her lips back to snarl at the Risen. "If we die here, this close to our goal, then... we HAVE to get Father to the Shrine, no matter what!"

Robin swallowed around the dryness in her throat, managing a nod. That seemed to spur Lucina forward, and leant greater ferocity to her attacks.

With her going to the front Robin stared down at her hand, Lucina's words echoing in her ears.

 _"No matter what..."_

-o-o-o-

More Risen harried their steps, seeming to form into black waves. Their undead existence didn't matter, compared to overwhelming the living. And Lucina was half terrified that they would succeed. Each one corpse that lunged in was another bit of pressure on her face, another jolt of pain and tears clouding her eyes.

Morgan tried to cut a path with Falchion, handling the blade surprisingly well… and capable of cutting through Risen in his own right. Lucina didn't miss the way his eyes went wide on the first cut, the Risen falling to the floor and neatly bisected.

' _So he can wield it just as well-'_

Though not well enough to make a serious dent in the Risen. Inigo staggered behind Morgan, blood welling from a cut above his eye and ruining his vision. Owain didn't look like he could dodge for much longer either, cuts lining his arms and legs, and slowing his movements. Lissa couldn't keep up with their wounds, no matter how much magic she called up.

Lucina sliced her way through the Risen, letting strength and fire strike through her. And each step they took brought the mountain that little bit closer. It didn't matter how much smoke and miasma clouded the air; the mountain and shrine still acted as crystal, white shimmering beacons.

Her own sword was going dull at the edges, her arms alternating between burning and a solid weight.

' _Not enough-'_ And it soured in her stomach, the knowledge that she couldn't keep up with Morgan, or match him in battle-

Or at least, not without some extra help. Something that boiled close to the surface of the skin… and where each step towards Mount Prism made her pulse surge and her body feel off. Like it was pressed into the wrong shape-

She didn't get the chance to dwell on that, as her sword was wrenched away by one of the Risen. Nearby she saw Chrom flinch back, his sword breaking. The sound was drowned out by a strange hum in her head, so similar to the song she'd heard at the Mila tree.

Robin staggered ahead, branded hand glowing where it cradled her head… and blind to the Risen rushing her, swords drawn.

' _Mother!'_ The word escaped her in a roar, along with a goat of flame. Silver and blue flames bloomed over her form, twisting her into a new shape as she barreled towards her parents.

Robin raised her head to Lucina's scream, only to stare bleary eyed at a sword leveled upon her. The robes of the undead sword dancer were stained black with blood, and he looked ready to add Robin's blood to the decorations.

But the Risen blade never had the chance to land or pierce flesh; not when her own claws were faster, and just as sharp. With a swipe they pierced the Rise, erupting from its chest in a bloody set of talons. Lucina flung the broken body aside with a snarl, crouching next to Robin and trying to mantle her mother with her wings.

With a hiss, more flames leapt from her jaws, engulfing the Risen and forming a wall of fire between the corpses and their band. It thinned the ranks, opening the way up towards the mountain… and a voice Lucina swore emitted from the ruins, calling out in a melody that hummed in her very bones.

The Song was a siren's call in her head. It was more than just the echoes of the Mila tree now; it was an invitation to freedom and comfort. It was a faint memory of a lullaby, sung by her mother-

' _It can't be her, she's right beside you!'_ Lucina tried to scream, tried to drown out the call… but only so much. The wings on her back itched, wanting both to throw herself into the sky, or across the river and into the embrace of the mountain.

A scratching sensation clawed at her head, as the Risen closed in on them.

Instead the thrashed as an arrow pierced the membrane of the wings, and steaming red blood marred the blue scales. The edges seemed to turn violet, and Lucina tensed, ready to spring and rend the Risen limb from limb until there was only ash-

"…That's the last strike you land on my family." Robin's voice was little more than a snarl… and even though she was changed, pain erupted in Lucina's eye and near her wrist. Her foreleg gave way as she all but collapsed, bringing her head down to Robin's level.

Her mother wasn't fighting off a headache any longer. Instead, she'd raised her marked hand, calling power to her grip without the aid of a spell book. Her entire arm pulsed and glowed with a sharp violet, the mark on her hand almost too bright to look at.

"You think you can saturate the grounds with this power… and I won't do something about it?" Robin spat out, behind clenched teeth. The Risen gave no answer… but for a moment Lucina wondered if one or two of them almost flinched back.

Not that it saved them. Robin's spell leapt from her hand, starting as a flit of violet flame before turning into a wave, a wall, a full maelstrom of power that pushed Lucina's wings back. Robin's hair and robes whipped around, as though in the midst of a furious storm. The magic crashed into the Risen, with a roar that could have come from the very throat of the Fell Dragon.

Smoke took the place of the soldiers… and it seemed like a scratching sound in the back of Lucina's head diminished. All that was left was the song-

Chrom must have heard it too, with how he threw himself forward, into the gap Robin made. Lucina glanced at her mother, collapsing spent into the grass, and snapped her talons around Robin's waist before throwing herself forward.

Her wings hurt too much for full flight, but she managed to skim the ground and catch up to Chrom. Morgan was running alongside, eyes fixed on the temple. Robin slipped out from her grip, coming to rest on the shrine steps.

"You have your opening!" Tiki's voice followed them. "Hurry and perform the Awakening, before they can redouble their efforts!"

Her words did the job of urging Lucina on, and ignore how her steps limped; it didn't matter, when each one took them closer to the Shrine.

-o-o-o-

He could hear the fights echoing outside, and it took all his willpower to keep his back to it. He remembered Tiki's description of the Awakening; keep his focus on the ceremony to show his conviction and willpower.

If he looked away from the shrine, Chrom knew that his lungs would turn to fire, and take the rest of his breath with it. Lucina had already lost her human form, though intelligence still glowed in her eyes. Morgan gripped the parallel Falchion like a lifeline, keeping him mostly human.

Chrom forced himself forward, the peak and the Shrine becoming his world. His steps echoed loud on the tile that formed the entrance to the shrine. Lucina ducked inside, holding her wings close to her body… but the door seemed designed to allow a creature much larger than her. And the faded claw marks on the steps showed something had moved through, in ages past.

Inside lay a half cavern, half an alter of pale marble. A great slab of smooth, silver drenched stone dominated the center of the room. Gold inlay ran in curves and ripples off the stone and down the sides, images of tear drops and flames set into the sides of the alter. And then in the front, in a concentration of gold upon the main table, was a dip that seemed perfectly designed for the Emblem.

Chrom swore that the shield hummed on his arm, in response. The metal gave a soft ringing, chiming off the stone walls and floor like a thousand bells. A solitary beam of sunlight pierced the mountain through an airshaft, and hit the table to set up a glimmer of gold and brilliance.

He couldn't imagine more of a contrast to the Dragon's Table. The same might have been true for Robin, in how she hesitated at the entrance. Her feet froze at the threshold, and she backed away. Leaving only the blue haired members of the family to walk in, almost _pulled_ in by something.

Claws scrapped on the stone, showing that Lucina had made it in. Her head bowed low, to keep her horns from scrapping anything… and something about her seemed smaller than before.

A rippling sound broke up the rasp of her scales, somehow muting them. At the edge of the room, Chrom picked out a fountain sprouting from the wall. Rivulets of water ran in a stream from the mouth of a carved dragon, into a stone basin. A few droplets from the water splashed onto Lucina's side… giving a hiss as though extinguishing fire.

Lucina melted down to a more human shape under the touch of the water, though she still staggered forward. She came to a stop at a pair of great, double doors taking up the back of the Shrine. She blinked up at the doors in shock, and the alabaster dragons carved into them. Almost like the doors had called out to her… much like they seemed to call to Morgan. He'd rested a hand over one of the shield sized door rings.

As though in a dream, Chrom felt something tug at his hands. The motion guided him forward, fingers prying the Emblem loose… and finally bringing it to rest on the alter.

The shield glimmered against the beam of sunlight, all five gems pulsing. When the clouds rushed over the sun and traced shadows along the dragon statues, they almost looked like they were breathing.

His other hand rested the box against the alter and released the catch, spilling the contents out across the stone. The shards of Falchion lay before him on the altar, fragments of steel like scales. Chrom rested the shield across the broken sword blade.

"Naga!" He raised his voice, relief quietly flooding through him that he didn't stammer. "I've come to ask you for a boon! For your power!"

He traced his fingers over the Emblem… and stared as a few flecks of blue appeared on his skin, scales growing along the edge of his arm and coating his hand. It was like this place called out to what was sealed inside of him.

"I bear proof of our covenant, and I carry the power of my bloodline!" And manifested it as proof. Ahead of him, Lucina gave a shudder that terminated in a flinch… and a clawed hand tightened on the door. "Please… answer my call."

Silence was his answer, and dread tried to tie his stomach into knots. Behind him came the groan of Risen, and he wondered if they managed to dampen the power of this place.

"STAY BACK!" Robin yelled, trying to hold the line between the Risen, and them.

He leveled his eyes on Morgan and Lucina, both. They tested the rings of the doors… but the doors stayed as solid as the stone they were carved from. Even with the scales coating their limbs, they couldn't open the passage. The doors stayed unmoving, mute witnesses to Chrom's plea.

"And…" his voice dropped to a hush. "And please. If not for me… answer for my own blood. For my children. They've carried out your will as best as they could, through multiple time lines and places. They might even deserve your blessing more than me. For their sakes, please-"

A breeze shot through the cavern, like a quick breath drawn before the plunge. Before Chrom could draw a breath of his own, the doors shot open. Morgan and Lucina flew back from the motion, even without wings… and made a hard landing against the side of the alter.

"Lu-" Chrom's words vanished, in a roar of fire that shot from the doorway.

-o-o-o-

The world turned to fire, and her blood tried to become a match. Flames washed over all three of them like a blazing wave. Lucina bit back on a pained yelp, squinting her eyes against the glare and feeling her tears boil.

Nearby the water of the fountain sizzled, and a short breath of steam bit at her skin along with the fire. A prismatic array of flames seemed to feast on the air… even if they couldn't quite seem to find purchase on their skin.

Behind her Robin gave a choking noise, followed by a crash.

' _Please tell me she got out of the way-'_ Lucina had just enough time to think, before the shifting colors stained her vision and washed out her thoughts.

She'd lived through this once before, atop the Mila tree, and she wondered if her mind and concentration would go up in flames again. Her wrist felt like it was about to sear off, the fires concentrating on the hand and weaving through her fingers. Through the flames she saw Morgan clutch at his shoulder, sinking to his knees.

' _I…'_ The six eyed brand seemed to drink in the light, giving a baleful violet glow. Defiant against the flames. Behind her, a growl echoed out of Chrom's throat, more beast than man.

Her body seemed torn between extremes as well… the fire calling out to two halves of her. Perhaps three, with the ache along her hand… and the way Morgan's coat rippled, skin writhing underneath it and trying to turn into wings, the same was true for him.

The bones and muscles under her skin couldn't seem to decide what shape it wanted to be in; her flesh strained under the heat, remembering the form she'd taken just a few breaths prior. And how _that_ might stand up better to the inferno.

' _I'm not-'_ Her own throat choked, on words and snarls both… but with a wrenching effort, Lucina hauled herself to her feet. The flames billowed around her, and the motion caught Chrom's eyes.

"I'm not finished yet." She'd called on Naga's magic before and lived, she wasn't ready for that to change now. Lucina put a hand out to brace herself… and her palm stretched across the metal of the Emblem, impossibly cool against the inferno.

And… the pain in her hand and eyes seemed to dim. Even the heat of the flames cooled. Lucina snatched at Morgan's arm with her other hand, and brought it to rest against the shield. The writhing stilled in his skin, and with him slumped against the Emblem, Lucina turned to Chrom.

Her father was still braced against the flames, baring teeth against them through the gap of his crossed arms.

"Father-" Lucina tried to say… terrified at the mad light that tried to settle in his eyes. Her voice was little more than a whisper. But Chrom still heard it, as his snarl faded, and his eyes focused on her face. With a flurry of motion, his own hand crashed down on the Emblem, anchoring him against the fire.

And at last, the blast of fire ceased.

-o-o-o-

Only the stones were left on the shrine exterior. The grass was crisped away, a few stray strands left burning like vigil candles. Everything else was ash; the plants, and not even a trace of Risen were left.

"That… that was Naga?" Robin found her breath and her words.

"That or it was a natural disaster." Or maybe both. Robin stared up from where she'd thrown herself to the side. Tiki was rooted in place beside her, and arm half thrown out in front of Robin to try and shield her. Despite that, Robin was certain the edges of her robe were more than singed.

Still in better shape than the army that had been rushing them though. The flames had washed from the shrine like a glowing river, sweeping every hostile force clean off the valley floor… and somehow leaving the Shepherds safe.

Although further down the hill, Robin could just make out Lissa, and the saucers her eyes had turned into. A similar look of astonishment was on the faces of the other Shepherds; their own charge had turned into a cautious ascent, in case that inferno decided to come back.

"…She's stirred. Chrom managed to call her back into the waking world. I-" Tiki started to say… only for her eyes to grow dulled, and her steps to became stiff and mechanical. Like something had seized control of her, and guided her forward.

"Tiki-?" And she didn't answer, leaving Robin to trail after her, into the shrine itself. Since she didn't burst into flame when she crossed the threshold, Robin considered that a good sign.

An even better sign was seeing Chrom, Lucina, and Morgan all in one piece. Even their clothing was intact, though they slumped over the alter.

"Chrom! Are you-!?"

"I… I'm alright. I think we all are." Chrom answered, propping himself up against the stone. Lucina raised her head as well, blinking her eyes in shock.

"I… I'm alright as well. I… nothing hurts, any longer." Lucina said. Morgan gave an astonished blink, showing the same was true for him. Tiki had come to a rest in the center of the shrine, eyes staring into the depths, into an eye aching brightness that lurked beyond a pair of opened doors.

"Welcome." When Tiki spoke, it was a voice that wasn't hers. Yet her throat pulsed, her lips moved, and something resonant echoed out of her mouth. "Children of the Exalt… and distant kind of my blood. I am Naga."


	67. The Last Calm

**Chapter 67: The Last Calm**

' _I am Naga.'_ The words rang through the shrine, with the same weight and presence as a looming thunder storm. Only silence greeted them, Lucina and Morgan both fixed to the alter and Chrom standing straight up, staring at Tiki.

"Chrom…?" Robin's voice came out hushed, not wanting to disturb the situation. His face tried to twitch towards her, but he couldn't take his eyes off Tiki. That, and the soft green glow coating the manakete, proved just what they were looking at.

' _I guess it's not for nothing, that she's called the Voice of Naga.'_ Strands of her hair levitated in the lambent green and azure glow that coated Tiki. Her eyes glimmered like a blue flame as she gazed upon Chrom.

"You've faced my fire, and been cleansed in it, Awakener. You are…"

The voice trailed off, and the burning eyes widened.

' _That can't be a good sign.'_ Robin thought.

"…You are indeed of the old blood, it seems. And have had an Awakening, long before this." Tiki extended her arm, a flash of silver scales coating her hand and growing claws. Those clawed fingers pointed to the scarred brand on Chrom's shoulder.

"Y-you know? You know what this is, what we've been struggling under?" Chrom whispered, before blanching. "I- forgive me, I shouldn't question a god-"

To Robin's shock, something that could have been a wry chuckle echoed from Tiki's throat.

"I am no god, anymore than my daughter is, or you are. I am only a remnant of the past, of a strong but power-mad age." Tiki moved as she spoke, standing before the entry of the doors. Her form was almost a silhouette as she stood in front of the glow; just beyond Robin swore that something clad all in white and green tinged scales stirred. A dragon of great size, and glowing like sunlight on water.

"Then… Xane's tales were true?" Chrom asked.

"He had a light demeanor, but yes. One can only stay in this form for so long, even if they shift in their sleep by accident." Tiki-As-Naga glanced over her shoulder, at the form beyond. "It's why I must talk through my daughter, lest I go mad from the call of fire and flight…"

She trailed off, looking again at Chrom. This time her gaze took in Lucina and Morgan.

"But it hasn't been quite the same case for you. You've been gifted that same power, and danced along the same edge of madness, with rending of your seal." The Voice blinked her eyes, letting them stay shut in contemplation. "…Something that should have only happened under great stress."

"I-it did. Happen in great stress, I mean." Chrom answered. "Grima has been stirring-" He cut off, a rumble and snarl echoing through the shrine. It had to have come from the dragon waiting beyond the doors.

"I felt something like that, seasons ago." That lined up with when they first encountered the Risen, Robin knew. "A foul nightmare twisting my sleep… and something cutting, that felt like some of my power bled through."

Chrom touched his scarred brand at that, wincing and nodding in understanding.

"I… I was harnessing your power? We all were, all this time?"

"When I made the pact with the first Exalt, I granted him a measure of my power. Strength and stamina both, beyond human means. In return, my power, my bloodline, would not fully cease… and perhaps might aid in keeping the world in balance. The Exalt's Brand is proof of that pact… and was supposed to keep the power in check, unless it was damaged."

Now the Voice's eyes lingered on the children. Lucina had bowed her head to Tiki and Naga both, a shiver working through her form. Morgan kept swallowing out nervousness, eyes darting between Tiki and the floor.

"And yet… your children have more than just that, in their blood. There's a mixed heritage there-" Another growl echoed through the Shrine. This time Robin didn't stay idle, stepping in front of her children, and Naga's presence.

"You're not going to call my children abominations, are you?" Robin didn't bother to hide the growl in her voice. "I should warn you, it didn't go well for the last person who tried that-"

Robin thought she heard another dry laugh, and it stilled her own words.

"Peace, Fell Brand bearer. I confess I… was hostile when I first sensed them. But they've proven to have the same level of mastery and control as you. Though I took the liberty of trying to dim the influence of your bloodline, with my flames. Along with imparting my blessing."

"Th-that's right!" Chrom jerked his head away from Tiki, back to the alter. "The Falchion…"

Robin followed him, to see that a line of blue light had taken the place of the shards. Falchion gleamed, whole once more on the alter. The blade was back to being a true, double edged sword, and in the teardrop cross section lurked a new addition; a blue flame, sparking in patterns and flares. The blue flame cast colors on the edges of Falchion, reflecting luminous rainbows along the blade.

"Falchion…" Lucina whispered, a note of longing in her voice. Robin could understand why; she'd almost forgotten what the sacred blade looked like, until now. If anything could kill Grima and finish their battles, it had to be that blade.

"You've done it, Chrom." Robin whispered.

"Hey, don't put all the credit on me." Chrom answered, half a laugh in his voice. "You helped me just as much, getting here. All of you did."

-o-o-o-

Lucina's breath shortened, looking at the reforged blade.

"So, we've done it." Lucina whispered, half wanting to reach out and touch the blade. To prove to herself that the sword was there… though a certain amount of heat lingering on the blade stalled her reach.

Chrom closed that gap, taking the sword up regardless of the heat. The blade cut a glimmering arc when Chrom swung it aloft.

Her own side felt bare, and her hands empty as she watched-

"Hey, Luci?" Came Morgan's voice. "I… appreciate that you gave me a chance the wield Falchion. But now that Naga's given us a little more control… I think you deserve to have it back… Don't you?" At that, he drew the parallel Falchion from the scabbard and held it out to her.

The single blade sword seemed odd, compared to the reforged Falchion… but still felt like an old and steadfast companion when Lucina closed her fingers around the grip. She paused, still considering… only to push the sword back to Morgan, shaking her head.

"It might be for the best that you hold onto it for a while longer." Lucina answered, looking down at the blade in her hands. She curled Morgan's fingers around the grip. "I want to take it up again someday, but only when I'm worthy of the blade."

"And I've ensured it won't go dull again." The Voice promised. "The two blades will once again be like the fangs of dragons, equal to my own strength… and your own power has been tempered in the flames."

"Th-thank you. Lady Naga." Lucina just managed. "You've given us so much. Control, a reforged set of blades, and the means to kill Grima-"

"That is not strictly true, future Exalt." Naga's voice tried to be gentle… but still took the breath out of Lucina.

"Wh… what do you mean?"

"I am not a god; I cannot truly make, or unmake… particularly when faced against the likes of Grima. The dragon is my equal, and cannot be slain by my power."

Dread coiled in the space of her stolen breath.

"Then if we can't slay Grima, then what…?"

"You can seal the Fell Dragon again, just as the first Exalt did millennium ago. Provided you weaken the creature, the strike of Falchion will subdue and send the dragon back to slumber."

"But… it wouldn't solve the problem. Permanently." Her mother's voice cut in, a dissatisfied note in her voice.

"No. Only Grima has the ability to unmake Grima, to match the same sorcery and rage that birthed the dragon." Naga answered. Robin shook her head at that, frowning, and worrying over the problem. Like she was working out the answer to a riddle. Chrom had his head cast down, seemingly defeated for the moment.

"Wait." Robin said, snapping her head up. Chrom yanked his head to her.

"Do you have a strategy?"

"A notion at least." Robin answered. "I… carry the same blood and heart as Grima. Validar, and the other me said as much. Wouldn't that qualify as Grima ending their own life?"

"Perhaps…" Tiki's eyes swept over Robin again. Naga's voice seemed to be growing dim, and over the word came the sound of footsteps outside seeped into the shrine. A sign the others had survived, and were almost upon them.

Robin glanced down at her hand.

"Perhaps that would be enough?" Robin pressed, and Lucina held her breath. Nearby, Chrom did the same… but with a clear not of admiration in the back of his throat.

"Yes. It would kill Grima, if you struck the final blow." Tiki and Naga answered. Chrom lifted his head at that, hope flickering across his face. The same hope sparked in Lucina, and Morgan squeezed her arm, trying to contain his own excitement.

"Then… that's perfect!" Chrom blurted out. "Robin, we can-"

"However. There is a price, when blood calls to blood. Since you are both linked by the same power… you would surely die as well. There's too much blood of the dragon in you, compared to your own humanity."

Hope dried up again, leaving Lucina numb.

-o-o-o-

A curious, hollow feeling swept over Robin, at Naga's words.

' _There's a lot about that, which makes sense.'_ A detached part of her observed, and she lifted her hand to look at the brand. The scar crossing the mark was still an unnerving sight knitted from pale skin, forming a gnarled gash. _'There's always a price to pay, something to be weighed against.'_

Her fingers parted, and in the gaps between them she saw Chrom. The light had gone from his eyes, and he had to take several shuddering breaths before he could speak. He looked ready to drop Falchion, ignoring all the trouble they went towards reforging it.

"Robin... don't tell me you'll do this. Please." He stared at her, like a drowning man watching his last chance of rescue floating away.

"…If that is the risk, then…" Robin trailed off, Tiki raising a hand in a motion to speak.

"There is a slim chance you could survive," Naga's voice continued, before Chrom could protest. "But it is a threadbare one; perhaps since you've bound your heart to others in this world, that would be enough to pull you back, to surpass Grima's grip on you. However, it's a frail hope to believe in."

Robin couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Then we need to find another way." Chrom said at last. His shoulders sagged, every muscle in his body showing how battered he was from the revelations. He fumbled to sheath Falchion, trying to make the motion decisive.

"Chrom… wait." And she hated stopping him short, and forcing more pain on him. But she couldn't afford to have him be ignorant. "You're not thinking clearly about this."

"What's to think about-?" Chrom choked out.

"H-he's right." Morgan added, and another sliver of pain worked its way into Robin's heart. "This isn't an option, you dying. R-right, Luci?"

But Lucina wouldn't meet his eyes. From where she stood, Robin knew she was the only one who could see past the curtain of hair fallen over Lucina's face, and the conflict twisting in her eyes and the corners of her mouth.

"I-" Her words came out in a wheeze, with a sob lurking dangerously close by. "I don't know. I swore… I swore I would do whatever it took to stop Grima. But-"

A pre-dawn memory seeped into her head. Of staring at Lucina, past the edge of her blade. She couldn't leave her daughter to rend her heart again, over an impossible choice.

"It's alright, Lucina. It's my choice… and I cannot weigh one life against thousands. Or millions. The choice is clear-"

"Robin, no! You're going to die if you do this!" Chrom interrupted. The look in his eyes threatened to break her conviction… while the volume in his voice almost frayed her patience.

"And risking the end of everything else is acceptable!? Think of what you're saying." Robin shot back.

"I-I know what I'm saying." His hands balled into fists, and he chose to glare at them instead of her. "I know… I had to live through this same choice before."

The image of a woman, standing proud in gold and green robes against a bleached out desert flared in her mind. Chrom narrowed his eyes, trying to squint back the tears forming in them.

"Please, don't ask me to stand by and watch another of my family die." Chrom's voice was hushed. "There… there has to be another way. After everything we've done, the battles we've fought… there must be another way to victory. So please Robin. Promise me you won't-"

"Promise what…?" Came a new voice. Robin broke eye contact with her family, to see Lissa stepping into the shrine. Sumia shadowed her, with Frederick close behind. Their presence seemed to snuff out the strange spell that had taken over the chamber… and Robin found herself glad of it.

"What just happened here?" Lissa continued. "I saw fire from the shrine, and… um. Tiki is glowing. Is there a reason for that?"

Tiki's answer was a faint humming noise… but now in her own voice, lacking the echo of Naga. She shook her head back and forth, dimming the glow with each motion. Beyond her, the doors swung back shut.

"That… was a different experience. But before she faded from my mind, Naga promised that this ground is consecrated against Grima now. That we may spend the night, and rest up for our travels. And… the decision that awaits us."

Lissa tilted her head at that, looking between the group.

"…I'll explain the situation to them." Robin heard herself say. She turned her back on her family to face the rest of the Shepherds. And felt like a coward the entire time.

-o-o-o-

Chrom watched Robin disappear down the hill, into the campsite. The silence in the air chilled him, as did the fact she never promised anything. No word, no oath that she wouldn't sacrifice herself. From where he stood, watching her leave, it almost looked like she was sinking into the hill.

Or falling from it-

 _'STOP.'_ He cut the thought off too late. It was already turning into an iron weight in his chest, crushing in around his heart. Emmeryn's fall played over and over again in his head, no matter how he shied from it.

With everyone else gone from the shrine, attending to the last campsite they'd ever likely pitch, the interior was like a tomb. His thoughts were his only companion, and they made for poor company.

' _You failed Emmeryn. And now things are fit to repeat with Robin.'_

"Naga... give me a sign, something. Tell me how to save my wife." He begged the image of the dragon, for all the good it would do. Naga was a fading presence in this temple, the last of her power left in his blood, or draped over Tiki like a mantle. Naga's daughter had promised that if Naga willed it, she would act as her voice… but that for the moment, the Divine Dragon had faded. He still fixed his eyes on her statue, focusing, praying with all he had.

 _'Please. I'll do anything-'_ He tried to put his entire heart into it... yet something distracted him, yanked at his senses. Something buzzing at his side, just below his ribs.

He swore that the wound should have closed and healed all the way by now. Chrom touched his fingers to the spot on his ribs-

The world tilted to the side in response, and Chrom found himself laying against the tiles. A crash showed that the Emblem fell with him. The stones hummed, showing that a bit of left over magic still lingered in the room. His scar throbbed, even with all his weight resting on his other side.

The sensation flooded him, chasing out the cool press of the ground, the alter digging against his back. His hands still found their way to his side… and he realized it wasn't just the ache of his scar, sending shivers through his muscles.

A haze settled into him, echoes of the Awakening ceremony that seemed to seep into his muscles and head.

The sword and shield at his side both buzzed with restless energy. Chrom fought his way back to his knees and pulled them both from his side, feeling power shiver into his fingertips. The faint memory of Tiki came to him, framed by the shifting branches of the Mila tree.

He rested both treasures on the alter, before going to the shrine fountain. The waters had begun to flow again from the mouth of another carving, as though the flames had never evaporated anything. His hands scooped the water up, forming a pool that he rushed back to the alter, and poured over the treasures. The ripples and metal both caught the light of the sun outside, and Chrom looked at them. He shifted his head by just a fraction, catching the reflection of Naga's carvings as well-

All three images lined up, and flashed a bright blinding light. He slumped hard to the ground, pain flaring through him for an instant.

He wasn't standing in the temple when the light and pain cleared. Instead he drifted in a flickering void.

He wasn't alone in that place. A familiar blue eyed figure from his dreams stood before him, with a matching cut in his side. His mirror image watched him, eyes burning in a way that made him think of a reprimand.

 _'You couldn't save her before. You can't save her now.'_ Before Chrom could open his mouth to argue, the vision shifted again. Now his feet touched solid ground, a narrow band of rock jutting into the sky... eerily familiar. His eyes followed the slope of stone up to where it tapered into a solid rib of rock.

Someone perched on the edge of it, and his throat went tight as he saw them.

"Emm!?" he croaked out, but already knew that wasn't right. Emm had never worn dark robes. Robin's eye lined sleeves flapped in the wind as she looked on at him sadly. Underneath her, darkness yawned open like a massive maw.

Chrom stretched out his arm, his throat closing around his screams.

 _"DON'T!"_ he cried out in his thoughts, but she didn't hear him. She took one step back to the edge. He ran to her, stretched out his legs until they screamed. But it was like running through sand instead of across stone. He'd NEVER reach her on foot-

 _'Then I won't!'_ He let his wings rip out of his back, smelled his blood splatter on the rock as he ran for her. His wings strained out, pushing him hard, and he wrapped his arms around Robin just as she overbalanced. The wings crumpled around him, burning away, and they both plummeted over the edge. He held tight to her as they fell into the void… and yet Chrom swore that she was growing fainter and fainter in his arms. Turning to mist in his grip.

 **"Why do you risk all for her?"** The voice in his ear came from Robin's mouth, but echoed with Naga's power. Chrom tightened his arms around her cloak, trying to keep it pressed close to him.

"Because... she's my other half." He whispered out. "I promised I'd never be powerless to save the people I loved. Never again-"

He choked out as Robin's form dissolved away completely, leaving him with just the cloak. The folds of the cloth wrapped around him.

 **"Why?"**

"She deserves better than to suffer. If I could take on her burden, I would. We're both two halves of the same whole."

' _And I'd never let her face this alone, if I could.'_

The cloth covered him completely now. Chrom vaguely became aware that he wasn't falling any longer. Instead the cloth pooled around him, on soft, cold ground. It felt like he was laying in water, or in sand somewhere. He lifted his head, looking around.

He was on a dim patch of ground, shrouded with a colorless mist. Overhead, points of starry light burned like a dozen pale torches. Chrom's arms shook as he pushed himself to his feet, and he looked down when something pulled at his wrists.

His arms were wrapped in Robin's cloak. The hood hung around his shoulders, and the cloth rested over him like it had been fit for him... save for where it had burned through at the shoulder. His brand peeked out from the charred edges of cloth.

 _'...I did promise I'd take her burden.'_ He remembered. If wearing her cloak did something for it, he would gladly do so. Finally, he found his way to his feet. As he did, the mist swirled around him, parting a little as another portion of the ground lit up.

Ahead of him was a figure. The only one he could pick out in the entire gray expanse. His feet picked their way towards the stranger, drawing him close enough to pick out features in the dim light.

"Robin-?" Chrom stopped short. The figure he saw resembled Robin here and there, was even draped in a heavy coat that was a perfect match for her. There was an echo of similarity in the hair as well... but when the figure turned to face him, the similarities stopped short. Smart as she was, his wife had never shown such wisdom in her eyes, or the lines of age and stress showing under them.

The stranger watched him, eyes narrowing in confusion.

"...I don't know who you are, but I know you don't belong HERE."

"Where... is here, exactly?" Chrom found himself asking. This person, odd as she was to his eyes, wasn't taunting him with failures and being unable to protect Robin.

The woman regarded him, cautious… but still answered.

"Border realms, between living and dead. It's only grown easier to step into them, thanks to the Fell Dragon... and that growing power means I've failed in what I set out to do." The woman dropped her head, not meeting his eyes. "I did everything in my power to keep this fate from falling on my child. But I feel it; I feel the howl of Grima echoing into the realm of the dead, calling more and more out of it and enslaving them to the beast's will. I-"

"There's still hope." Chrom cut her off, the reality of her words crashing in. "Robin didn't give into grief or despair."

Those tired eyes focused on him, a shock of realization pulling them wide.

"Wait... I DO know you. I should. You were one of my last memories before I died. Chrom, the prince of Ylisse. And... there's a glow to you, that proves you aren't dead." Chrom glanced down at his hands, and saw she spoke the truth. There was a faint, blue glimmer to them that set him apart from the ashen, smoke shrouded plane. "If what you said is true, then maybe there's hope for Robin after all. I'd hoped enough, that she'd be strong."

As he watched her, the information all clicked into place.

"...Maela." Chrom whispered out, staring at Robin's mother.

"And it seems you know me as well."

"Y-yes. I've never met you before, but…" But he wished that Robin was here, to see this. To see her.

"Blessed Naga, and Robin had so many questions to ask you!" He blurted out. Naturally he couldn't think of any. "But… no matter how I got here, I need to talk to you! Memorize as much as I can so I can tell her-"

He stopped, shocked by the laugh she gave. It had echoes of Robin's voice, but a wryness that was all its own.

"You have quite the interesting set of priorities, sir Chrom. Though from what I've seen, that might not be such a bad thing. It likely kept Robin alive, and sane against all the forces aligned against her."

"Th-thank you. But what do you mean 'seen?' Visions?" Chrom asked. Or even hauntings may have been likely, if she had the same magic as Robin.

"I've had... glimpses, through the veil, ever since Grima weakened the boundaries by calling up Risen. I've seen her fight, struggle... and I wished it was never a burden for her to bear."

"...I think all parents wish that, for their children." Chrom murmured, seeing Maela dip her head in agreement. Her eyes still focused on him, considering… and seeming to recognize him more and more. She also glanced at the ring, still manifesting on his fingers even in this place; more proof of their bond, Chrom liked to think.

"She has a family of her own now, thanks to you. I know you've been her strength." Maela said.

"She's been the same for me. And... and I have to find a way to be strong for her again."

He found the words spilling out from his lips, rushing to explain their situation... and what he was certain Robin had planned. "I CAN'T let her go through with it! She's ready to sacrifice herself!"

"I'm not sure if I should be proud of her, or horrified." Maela didn't meet his eyes as she said that, pulling the hood over her face. "She's ready to give her all to stop Grima from threatening the world again..."

"That's not an option!" He shouted, and the mist shivered around him. The glow flared around his skin, threatening to burn a hole through the mist… and shatter the vision. "I- sorry. But… how can I allow this? How can Robin think this is wise?"

"Chrom. Think for a moment. Think of the ruin Grima was ready to visit on your daughter. I was ready to die for MY child, to save her from grim fate... why wouldn't she want to do the same, for her own children?"

Chrom sank to the ground, shaking his head. Unshed tears in his eyes blurred everything into a gray fog.

"I...I'm sorry. I know this is selfish of me, but I... I don't want to lose anyone else."

He started at the hand on his shoulder.

"...And I am selfish as well, in a way. I wanted Robin to live a good life... and I still do. If there IS a way I can save her, I'll gladly do so." Chrom dared to let a little hope back into his heart, easing the pain in his chest.

"Naga told me, told both of us that she could draw strength from our bonds, and..."

"...And then, there's your bloodline." Maela finished. "If what you say is true... Naga is right. Those bonds could be strong. But I have a theory that the power in your blood could bolster them even more so. Just as her heritage puts Robin at risk… your own might give you the means to bring her back."

The frown on her face kept him from instantly latching onto it.

"Forgive me for asking… but what's the price?"

"It's a risky thing for a mortal to try. Add in the blood and power of a divine dragon, and you could easily burn through even the hardiest soul."

"I don't- I'd be ready to risk it for her." He was ready to risk the world. Why not his own soul? "I just don't know HOW. How do I draw out power like that?"

"I will try to teach you." Maela answered. "With the time we have left. I don't think either of us can, or SHOULD linger in this realm for long. I taught my daughter spellcraft from a young age. You're an older pupil than she... but I may be able to manage something, with whatever time it is we have left. Starting with breathing." She knelt down next to him, motioning for him to lift his head.

He didn't know how much time passed. Minutes, hours... it all blended in as Maela told him everything she could about Robin, about how SHE taught her. He desperately tried to absorb it all, until-

"Enough." Maela's head snapped up and forced Chrom's eyes open. In doing so he caught sight of his hands, growing transparent. He was fading out already; trying to get to his feet only made his form more translucent, and Chrom found himself rooted to the spot. "You need to wake up now. We've both done all we can... now we need to pray that is enough."

"I-I can see you again, can't I? To finish learning?" And maybe, somehow he could bring Robin-

"...No, I fear not. This sort of magic only works once for us, even with divine treasures powering it. You can only balance on a precipice for so long, until you tip over into the other side. And I have no wish to see you fade into MY realm, when you have a family waiting for you." He swore Maela's eyes shimmer for a moment.

"Still... I am glad I was able to meet you once, Chrom." She blinked away any tears, and put on a smile for him. "Robin is a capable woman, and I'm proud to see who she's become. But... please, when she does falter, take care of her, for me."

Only a wisp of color remained in him now, and Maela gained a faded quality as well.

"Even if the rest of these memories fade, remember this; you are her strongest link. And... that I love her." Maela flickered out on the last words. The gray lands faded out around them in the same breath. In the next, Chrom's eyes wrenched open, and he gasped for air. His heart started to pound, like it had forgotten how to beat.

He pulled himself up from where he slumped against the alter. Through the gates of the shrine he saw the surrounding hills and sky, stained red with a setting sun.

His head felt like it had been stuffed full of mist and cotton… both of which were already dissolving away. He desperately tried to hold onto what was turning into a faint dream... and found himself glancing over to his shoulder. His hand lingered over the Brand, tracing the scar along it. His dreams and memories however, stayed dimmed.

"...Maela? Something about that name…" He murmured the name one more time. But his head remained stubbornly clouded.

He lifted his head, and set off down the hill to find Robin, and his family.

-o-o-o-

' _One last throw of the dice…'_ The thought haunted her dreams.

Robin stirred from her sleep, turning over to see someone else in the tent. Chrom was holding her cloak in his hands, running his thumbs over the purple lining.

"I'm not entirely sure it would fit you." Her voice came out hushed, remembering how they'd both raised their voices before. He turned slowly at her words, giving her a bashful smile. Robin returned it with one of her own, relieved to see something take the place of worry on his face.

"I... I feel like I should argue that, but I'm not sure why." He rubbed at his head, in a motion Robin knew well; she'd done the same to try and dislodge stubbornly illusive memories.

"Where were you?" She found herself asking.

"At the shrine. Trying... trying hard to think of a way to get out of this problem." Robin froze at his words. That worried, battered look was working its way back into his face.

"Chrom... I'm sorry. I think it's the only way we'll win against Grima, if I-"

"And I don't think that's true. At least... it feels like it isn't all true. Gods... I know SOMETHING happened up there at the shrine. I was trying to meditate and pray for guidance, but now I-" he ran his fingers through his hair, glaring at the ground. Robin slowly rose up, reaching out to wrap her hands around his and pulling he hand away from his head. He strained a little against her grip, before melting into it.

"Maybe there's another solution… or maybe there isn't. I can't risk everything on a maybe." Robin told him, waiting for another outburst. But none came. "Are you angry? Upset?"

"...Scared." He corrected. "Love... I can't lose you. I-I thought I knew a way out of this, but I can't remember... for a change, I'm the one who can't remember."

She felt his sides flutter, like he wanted to laugh at the irony.

"Hmm... see how frustrating it can be?"

"Aye." He stared at her, like he was trying to memorize every aspect of her face... and trying to remember something about it. A second later his arms tightened around her back, pulling her tight against him. Chrom shivered as he held her, like she was the only solid thing in the world... and like he was terrified she'd vanish if he let go.

"There is something stuck in my head though. A sense of almost understanding… much as I don't want to." Chrom admitted, in the stillness. His throat thrummed against her cheek. "Robin... I know you can't promise me that you won't sacrifice yourself. But I also can't promise that I'll stand aside and do nothing."

"I know, love." She traced his jaw with the very tips of her fingers. "I suppose it will be down to who reaches Grima first, in that case."

And this time, he didn't argue. More than anything else, that made her wonder just what he'd dreamed up on the shrine… even if he couldn't remember.

"I suppose so."


	68. Wind and Wings

**Chapter 68: Wind and Wings**

Lucina slept better than she had any right to, up until the last hours of the night. She decided that, once she opened her eyes and realized how much of the night had slipped by. Morning greeted her with a few halfhearted bird calls; even in the shadow of Mount Prism, the world still held its breath, waiting to see if this would be the end of days.

Tears lingered in her eyes, and her breath was a quiet sob in her lungs. It took several breaths to ease up, and keep herself from hiccuping or crying.

' _Don't dwell… don't think about what you just dreamed.'_ She tried to tell herself.

"S-so. Any idea how to fix things?" Lucina asked herself, staring up at the tent canvas. Her mind was clear enough for it being early in the morning… but it offered no answers to her own questions. And scowling upwards did nothing to help on that; no solution to keep her mother alive AND stop Grima.

She blew at her bangs in frustration, before rolling out of the cot.

' _You swore to yourself, that the world would break apart before the bonds of your family ever did. Will you be able to keep that promise?'_ Her insides were a roil, knowing that salvation and loss both went hand in hand.

"No, I didn't figure anything out either." She flinched at the new voice, before recognizing Morgan. "…Had a lot of nightmares, though."

Her brother eased up from his sleeping spot, blinking at her. "A lot of watching mother fade out, and not being able to do anything… how about you?"

Lucina gave another wince at that, hating what sprang into her mind. Her dreams had been filled with fighting Grima, striking a killing blow on the dragon at long last… only to find herself staring down at her mother's body, Falchion piercing her chest. An echo of grief surged through her heart, aching worse than any cut she'd ever taken.

"H-hey. Sorry. That was dumb of me to ask." Morgan cut through his thoughts. "And to be honest, the look on your face is answer enough."

A tug on her wrist accompanied his words, Morgan turning his head to the tent entrance.

"C'mon. Maybe it'll be good to get some fresh air? Maybe?" A hint of desperation squeaked in his voice… and she just noticed how frail his grip seemed to be, like she was his last anchor in a mad world.

"O-of course. Good idea." Lucina found herself saying. That seemed to give Morgan a little more strength; at least enough to let go of her hand and stand on his own feet.

"Right, right! In that case, I'll get ready, and we can talk under an open sky." The thought gave Lucina an odd amount of energy. At the very least, it made the nightmares dim.

-o-o-o-

Robin blinked her way back into the waking world, with Chrom's arms wrapped around her. Their legs were tangled together, and even a deep sleep hadn't loosened Chrom's grip on her.

His breath tickled at her hair, and he mumbled something in his own sleep, squeezing her against his chest.

"Robin…" That was the one thing she could make out.

It prompted Robin to bring her hand up, resting it against his cheek.

"It's okay, love. I'm… I'm still here."

' _For now.'_ Robin didn't dare say that out loud, on the off chance he could hear her. His brow was furrowed, and Robin bumped her forehead against his. Chrom mumbled in answer, but his expression eased. The stubbornness of his grip reminded Robin of their conversation, the prior evening.

He'd vowed not to stop her, when the time came… though neither was he going to stand aside.

' _Then again, I didn't promise to stay my hand, either.'_

It would likely come down to whoever could land the final blow. As if in answer to her thoughts, Chrom's hand gave a twitch on her back.

"Chrom, I'm sorry that I can only say this, now." She whispered. "But… I want the best for our country. Our family, and the children of our children. No one else should have to shoulder the burden we have. And I hope you'll understand that, given time."

No answer. But then she expected none. His arms were bands of warmth over her skin, his chest radiating heat… but despite that, Robin felt a coldness trying to grip her heart.

' _Don't lose your nerve now. And don't forget what you just said.'_ She just hated what it would mean. Likely never feeling his touch again; not seeing any of her children grow up… and leaving them alone.

"Above everything else, I'll…" Robin trailed off when Chrom gave a twitch, something fitful moving through his sleep. "I'll miss you."

"Miss… what?" Chrom mumbled, eyes opening. Under his gaze Robin found all her words fading… and yet the cold feeling in her vanished, replaced with resolve.

"Nothing…" She tried to lie, yet he didn't seem all that convinced despite his drowsiness. "Just… thinking of what's waiting for us."

Chrom stiffened under that, the reality crashing in on him. And in answer, he pulled her tight against him, almost squeezing the breath out of her.

"A moment longer?" He asked, and Robin nodded. They lay curled together, drinking in the presence and touch of the other.

A part of her wished it could remain like this. Just the two of them, breath and pulses all but mingled together. But the world was moving on, outside of his embrace. The last sands in the hour glass were running out… and she would meet whatever waited for them.

"I love you." Robin said, almost by reflex. And she tried to put everything she could into those words; her conviction, her courage, and what gave her strength in the first place. Chrom must have heard it all, with how he pressed his lips to hers and threaded her fingers through her hair.

"And, I you. I…" He trailed off, a commotion stirring through the camp and drawing both their heads up. "I guess we'd better see what's going on."

-o-o-o-

The dawn air brushed cool fingers through Lucina's hair. And while it didn't banish her worries entirely, they diminished.

"Thought so." A touch of smugness colored Morgan's voice, and held him a little prouder. "Looks like an open sky does wonders, once you get a little boost courtesy of Naga."

Lucina nodded at that. A part of her was tempted to just lay on the grass, and stare up at the sky. Morgan didn't even pause at that temptation, flopping onto the grass and heedless of how the dew soaked his clothes. He hummed, likely soaking up the ambient magic from the grass.

Lucina took a deep breath, trying to order her thoughts.

' _Still no answers on what to do. If it's possible to save Mother-'_

"Hey? Luci?" Morgan finally spoke up from his place on the ground, sitting upright.

"Hmm?"

"Let's go flying."

At first she wasn't certain she heard Morgan correctly. But staring at him didn't bring anymore sense to his words. Or change the fact that he was staring up at the sky with a worrying amount of longing.

"M-Morgan. Can you explain that?" Lucina finally managed to sputter out. He rubbed at the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed… but his eyes still didn't leave the sky.

"Well… it's just that we have control now thanks to Naga and her blessing, yeah? We were there for the baptism of flames, so by all rights we should have a little access to what she gave Chrom. And besides… who knows if we're going to get another chance. I wouldn't mind trying it just once, to see what it's like."

' _Or you just want to emulate our parents. Maybe both.'_ Lucina hated that thought; not because it diminished Morgan's wants… but because it made her empathize. And there was a certain allure the blue and orange sky gave off.

"…I must be shorter on sleep than I thought. Because that's starting to sound like a good idea." Lucina grumbled. But there _was_ a restless twitch in her back. "But… no, I can't in good conscience allow the idea. What if you can't change back? And what if…?"

What if Grima's power still persisted? A new nightmare took the place of the prior nights. One from weeks ago, of a black dragon calling her into the sky. That dragon in her dreams loomed like a dark cloud-

It wasn't just in her mind. A dark shape cut through the clouds, black wings stirring the air and blasting Lucina's hair out of her face.

"W-wait, that's-!?" Morgan tried to say, only for the air to turn into a roar, from the force of the creature's dive. The wash from the wings knocked Lucina flat on her back, the grassy ground still managing to knock the breath from her lungs. She wheezed, trying to find her breath and her feet-

"Don't rush yourself, girl. I want to savor this. Particularly since you were so kind to put some distance between yourself and camp." A cruel, feminine voice lanced into Lucina's ears. Her eyes focused on a black pegasus, its sides stained a darker color from dried blood. The rider atop it had her own half healed wounds… but paid no attention to them, holding Morgan in a choke hold against the side of her horse. He'd gone limp, his throat pulsing from where the rider's nails dug into it. His hands were pinned against the pegasus, unable to slip free to reach his weapons.

"…Aversa." Lucina put a name to that haughty face. "I'm shocked you're still alive."

"Likewise, it's astonishing to see how you still struggle. Don't you see how futile it all is? Grima has returned, and sealed the world's fate. And yet you refuse to submit." She finished that with a spit, as Lucina tried to stand. "One step and I'll gouge you with spells. Don't test me, girl."

"Wh-what do you want." Lucina managed, fixed in place.

"Satisfaction, and nothing else. You took the one man who was like a father to me… I feel it's only fair if I take part of your family. After the requisite suffering, of course…" At Aversa's words, lightning sprang for her fingertips. And there was something familiar to the spell.

"Ah, yes. I managed to dig this book free of the ruins. A little poetic, don't you think? Your brother squirming like a worm on a hook, thanks to your mother's spell book. Though speaking of which-"

The lightning leaped across the distance and smashed into Lucina's shoulder, pinning her back to the ground. The dew of the grass stung against the ragged edges of her wounds.

Thunder echoed around her, doubtless alerting the camp, given the cries. But the Shepherds were still too far away, and likely too confused, to offer any immediate help.

"You were a consistent thorn in my side. And perhaps BOTH your bodies would be a fair payment, for one such as Master Validar." Electricity crackled in Lucina's ear, pinning her to the ground as Aversa took to the skies. Morgan was yanked up with her, feet uselessly kicking at the air.

Lucina strained after them with a strangled noise, a new hole tearing open in her shoulder. Her uninjured arm uselessly reached after them, trying to grab at Morgan. But there was a tree span between them, and the distance was only growing.

Her brother snapped one hand around Aversa's arm so she wouldn't tear the flesh from his throat. But his other went casting for a tome at his side… all while the blade he carried went ignored.

Through pain blurred eyes, Lucina saw a fire symbol on Morgan's book. He rasped out something… and then the book fell free from his grip, pages catching alight from his magic. It slammed down next to her in a burning comet.

' _Fire…'_ The heat of the flames seeped into her mind. It loosened the rigidness of her bones, and made her fingers curl against the grass. The dirt parted under claws sprouting from her fingers.

And suddenly, Aversa and Morgan weren't an impossible target for her to reach. Lucina lunged upwards with a snarl, the lightning melting through her flesh… but leaving only scales behind. A pair of wings shot out of her back, catching the superheated updraft from Morgan's fire.

Aversa's eyes widened at the charge, and Lucina gave a maddened howl. Scales washed over her arm in a tide, striking out at the arm holding Morgan. It was like tearing through red, wet, parchment.

Lucina showed her teeth, tasting blood in the air. A part of her roared in satisfaction.

' _You dared to threaten my mother, father, AND brother.'_ Lucina flexed her talons. _'I should tear you open now. It's one less threat to worry about.'_

"Damn you-!" Aversa hissed, Morgan squirming in her grip. He thrashed about, and the talons in Aversa's arm weren't doing any favors in holding onto Morgan. With one last thrash Morgan slipped out of her arm… and towards the ground.

Lucina gave hiss of alarm, trying to snatch him with her unchanged hand-

But he still fell through her fingers, the cloth of his hood snagging at her nails before wrenching free. Morgan's eyes widened, a fire starting to burn in the irises.

Her claws dug into Aversa's arm, each talon wanting to go for her eyes and throat, to finish cutting her down.

It was like trying to rip her own fingers off, letting go of Aversa. Lucina gave a snarl, turning her back on the woman and diving after Morgan.

Aversa gave a pained noise and tried to send a bolt of lightning after her. But the rider was clumsily slow, and Lucina easily twisted out of the way. She cut through the air like a falcon, nimble as any dancer. She stretched out her talons, flecks of blood flying off them before hooking into Morgan's robe.

Lucina wrenched her hand back, pulling Morgan fully into her grip as her wings fanned the air.

"I-" Her voice had a snarl in it, but she forced more words. "I've got you. It's okay-"

Except for the matter of the rider closing in on them. The shriek of the pegasus getting pushed into a dive made Lucina flinch and drop a little further out of the sky. She squeezed Morgan close to her, hoping she could shield him.

' _Can't bring any claws into play without dropping him.'_ And the talons in her hand felt like odd weights all of the sudden, a mismatching limb-

"Thanks Luci, but if you can turn just a little…" Morgan choked out, through a bruised throat and her arms pinching his lungs. Lucina blinked at the request, but managed to turn her shoulders with a wing yanking effort.

The black wings of the pegasus filled her vision, but Lucina found her eyes stuck to Morgan. Trying to figure out what his plan was.

"One shot. Better make it count…" Morgan muttered, his hand clutching papers. They crinkled in his grip, and Lucina recognized the archaic script written along them. Spell script; Morgan had managed to yank a few pages from Aversa's spell tome. She fanned her wings, trying to hold them in the air so Morgan could pick his target. He stretched his hand out, spell symbols glowing in the air and tracing a path as they dove.

"Th-" Morgan tried to shout out, only to clutch at his throat in pain. Aversa's grip had done it's share of damage, and the spell symbols quivered in the air, undecided.

The sword at his side gleamed, and Lucina snapped a hand around the grip. Falchion rattled free from its scabbard, the leather snagged and fitted into the scales coating her fingers. Lucina yanked the sword free, letting the steel act as a conduit… and wondering if there wasn't a faint, prismatic sheen to the edge of the sword.

"THORON!" Lucina shouted out, her words setting the spell script straight. Lightning flared along the words, turning into a wide spell bolt that latched onto Falchion. The blade made for a clean conduit giving the magic extra reach. A jagged golden spell shooting the air, piercing straight through Aversa with a wet slicing noise. Static rang in Lucina's ears, drowning out Aversa's disbelieving gasp. She went slack, and then fell from the saddle. She had no wings to slow her, and landed hard.

Lucina touched down with Morgan a moment later, the grasses sighing from the motion of her wings.

"…Heh… still an… ironic enough fate, I suppose." Aversa's breath rasped out in a wet laugh. Lucina kept a hand on Morgan's shoulder, approaching her with caution-

Though it seemed unlikely she could do much, with the hole torn through her.

' _That's… that's what Mother's magic can do?'_ And why she taught them to defend themselves, Lucina knew. Her grip tightened on Morgan's shoulder, desperate to keep him close and protected in case something else tried to snatch him up.

The contact brought up memories of reading with her mother, working out the names together. The memory made reality crash back in around her, and a shudder worked through her body.

"…Aversa." Morgan's voice rasped out. "It wasn't just about revenge, was it… we still present a threat to you, no matter how you try to make it sound otherwise."

"…You're quite the noisy thorn in the side, aren't you?" Aversa hacked out. Her eyes weren't focusing, and the same seemed to apply to the control over her words. "Much as I'd love to see the face of your family when you die… the motive was to try and break their spirits. To eliminate any chance."

' _The Grimleal… still see us as a threat? So we have a chance?'_

Aversa's eyes rolled back as she grimaced. A sickly color settled over her face.

"Not that it matters much to me now. The void awaits me… and it's… a relief more than anything."

The last breath rattled free of Aversa's lips.

"So that was their last ditch plan, eh? Well… guess that means we can't give up now, purely to put a knife in their plans." Morgan finally managed. He stumbled forward, to the spell book still in her hands. And he managed to pry it loose, taking the Thoron tome into his own grip. A sparse handful of pages still shivered in the breeze; only a few spell charges remained.

"Princess Lucina!" Frederick's voice came, followed by the snort of horses. She folded her wings closer in, against her body.

"Are you…" Frederick brought the horse up short, trailing off when he saw Aversa. "Ah… I- I see that answers that."

He took a deep breath, slouching forward.

"Forgive me… I should have been more vigilant." Guilt colored his words.

"THIS early in the morning? Seems a lot to do before breakfast." Morgan answered, and Frederick's eyes widened.

"This is hardly the time for japes-"

"OR beating yourself up. Sir." Morgan shot back. "You've only been back in the saddle with a fully healed leg for what, a week at best? I doubt either of us blame you."

Lucina nodded.

"Sir Frederick… take it from me, you won't change his mind that easily." To her shock, a trace of fondness moved into her voice. And Morgan seemed to take it as a compliment. "Or mine, for that matter. We were able to handle ourselves… and neutralize another threat."

She wasn't certain they fully convinced Frederick, but he still managed a nod.

"Still, the fact that she managed to find us… I suspect our reprieve granted by Naga is finished. We'll need to gather everyone and make haste to Grima."

"We can meet you back there… right, Lucina?" She didn't miss the way he was glancing at her wings, and gave a begrudging nod. It looked like he'd get his wish to fly, after all. Lucina glanced down at Falchion, at how it fit back into her hand like it had never left.

"Here," Morgan kept his voice low, unbuckling the scabbard and handing it to her. "I hope this means you're ready to take it back, now? That's a good reward for protecting your family, right-?"

Lucina huffed out her breath in answer; trust him to not change his mind… and likely refuse to take no for an answer.

-o-o-o-

Chrom stumbled out into a churning camp, thick with different reports. Robin was the one who pieced together everything; that Lucina and Morgan had come under attack… and that they'd managed to finish Aversa, likely crippling the chain of command of the Grimleal.

But while they were supposed to be victorious, that didn't keep Chrom from tracking both children down. Robin had the same idea, easily keeping up with the fast pace and scanning the campsite-

And breaking into a full tilt dash when she spotted to blue haired heads near the healer tents. Chrom followed her, ears catching a few voices over his pounding feet.

"Lucina, stop squirming if you want that shoulder to heal AND lose your scales! I swear you're just like Chrom… and that's NOT supposed to be a compliment, so stop looking so pleased." Lissa scolded, prodding at Lucina's shoulder with her staff.

"Are they okay-!?" He blurted out, prompting another wince from Lucina.

"F-fine, father. We're fine… you needn't worry about us…" She trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. That there were more pressing things to concern himself with.

That didn't keep Chrom from resting a hand on Lucina's head, and another on Morgan's shoulder. He needed that extra bit of proof and assurance, that his family was still whole… and he'd weather the scoldings Lissa and Maribelle were both giving him.

"They're alright," he said half to himself. "But… the fact that you were attacked so close to Mount Prism-"

"Likely the doing of Grima and the dragon's cult, both." Robin sighed out. "We're… shorter on time than I'd hoped."

A sour feeling clutched at Chrom's throat, and burned at his chest.

' _No, this is moving too fast! I need-'_ To do something, find some sort of solution that didn't involve Robin sacrificing herself. Something that wouldn't lead to a grieving family, again.

Something about that memory, painful as it was, tugged at something in his head. Something he was on the verge of remembering… but buried under grief, and with his mind in a roil of panic he couldn't focus on it.

"…We'll need to move out. Before Grima gathers any more strength, or thinks of another counter attack." Robin said, the words like a knife to his stomach… and yet he had to nod.

' _You almost lost another part of your family from idleness.'_

"Well, they're as patched up as we can make them. And mostly human." Lissa answered, standing up. The scales were nothing more than a fading memory on Lucina's skin, and Morgan had the strength to stand up and pass something to Robin. Chrom glimpsed a familiar book, though much more worn at the edges; the lightning symbol still shone brightly against the cover however, and Robin took it with trembling hands. He thought he heard a shaky "Thank you," from her, as she stared down at the book in disbelief.

"Though now we need to figure out how we can even _reach_ Grima." Lissa continued.

"Fear not; I can take you there." Came a new, and yet familiar voice. A glow washed over the camp, a soft light adding some potency to the day. On its heels came a new figure draped in white, her long green hair fanning out behind her like veil. She all but floated down the steps of the shrine, her voice reverberating through a hushed camp.

"…Naga?" Chrom couldn't work his voice above a whisper. His hand dropped from Lucina, who tried to bow. Morgan was a blur, glancing between Naga… and Tiki, who walked beside the Divine Dragon, though looking like a whisper next to the radiant figure.

"…Cathedral statues really don't do her any justice, as it turns out." Lissa murmured. Chrom gave an agreeing hum, before his brain caught up and realized the situation. Naga was walking about, without needing to use Tiki as a vessel.

"Lady Tiki…?" Say'ri was the first to move forward, though like Morgan she was unsure who to focus on.

"It seems I'm finished with the role of Voice for now… which to be honest is a bit of a relief. That creates more distance between myself and people than I'd like." Tiki answered. "When she gave the baptism of flames and manifested through me, Naga burnt some of her power; enough that it wouldn't drive her mad to fully wake, and allowed her to take a human form."

"Indeed. Though I cannot rouse for long, before needing to slumber again… I can at least see this through to the end, before that must happen." Naga added. After a pause she added, "I'd likely have nightmares for decades if I went straight back to sleep, assuming I could ever wake again."

"…Good to see millennia hasn't diminished your humor." Tiki answered, and with a shock Chrom saw a hint of smile on her face. "I'd wish to speak more with you. But I also can't argue that there's more pressing matters. And that you likely have a means of addressing them."

"Correct." Naga addressed Tiki, before turning to Chrom. "Exalt, I can bridge the distance between us and the Fell Dragon. Though doing so will bring you right to the beast; quite literally, in fact. You will arrive atop the dragon's back, the only place you can strike at Grima's weak point."

"…But that still won't be enough." Lucina muttered.

"No, as said before, only Grima's heart can destroy the dragon for eternity. It will be up to you, and your heart-sworn to make that decision." Naga dipped her head to him and Robin.

"What's the right choice-?" Morgan whispered, only for Naga to incline her head to him.

"Humanity must choose their own path; I am only here to help you reach that point." Her words were not unkind, but still firm. "Exalt, I leave it to you to decide when we depart."

"I…" Never, a part of Chrom wanted to say. He stifled it, looking at the faces of the other Shepherds. All of them were ready; some clutching weapons, others checking their armor… most of them standing by families of their own, ready to fight for their behalf. He glanced down to the sword at his side, the edges still shivering with power. And eager to be used against the Fell Dragon.

' _Robin… forgive me. But I'll do everything I can to strike that last blow, so you won't have to.'_

"I'm ready. I think we all are, right?" A chorus of agreeing shouts answered him. "Then one way or another, we settle this."

Naga's answer was to raise her hand. Magic shimmered off her fingers and palm in a pale veil and the camp blurred into white light around her. Mount Prism distorted, the grass and shimmering peak all merging together, forming into a strange, twisting passage. The ground melted underneath Chrom's feet, almost as if he'd grown his wings and taken to the air. From the yelp Lissa gave, it wasn't limited to just him.

Their surroundings blurred by them, hints of trees, fields, and deserts all racing past. It was like falling through a brightly lit well-

That turned pitch black, like the sun itself was extinguished. Chrom blinked his eyes, shadows falling away from his vision, and his feet touching down on something hard. A pulse rocketed through his feet, like something massive inhaled and exhaled, and Chrom almost collapsed to his knees.

Robin's hand help him up, and nearby he heard the others stumble, fighting their way back to their feet. And over their footsteps was a rumble of breath. Half like a growl of thunder, half like an earthquake underfoot, as the ground shifted with each sound. His vision cleared a little more, to see plates of violet and black under his feet.

' _Grima.'_


	69. To Face A God

**Chapter 69: To Face A God**

' _This… is Grima?'_ Robin swayed, taking in the mass of the dragon. The creature's great neck was equal to any castle, the wings on either side like hundreds of ships laid end to end. She reeled, trying to make sense of how big the creature had to be-

Something else made her steps wobble, and she slumped next to Chrom. At first Robin thought lights and spots of color danced in her vision; perhaps from the altitude, or her nerves had finally gotten the better of her-

But they moved in too much of a pattern for that to be the case. Flickering in and out as lines… like arcane blood pulsing through Grima. Her hand throbbed to that same pulse, and a now familiar ache grew in her face.

" **Well."** A voice rumbled through her bones, and made each pin prick in her cheek stretch out. Chrom winced at that voice, so similar to Robin's own… and yet with malice twisting through it. **"So you finally appear again. Wretched breed of Naga, and my own human shell. Are you here to TRY and best me?"**

A mocking laugh echoed in Robin's ears, and she grit her eyes. Her face twitched, stinging. Through the blurring of her eyes, she glimpsed a human figure at the base of Grima's neck, framed by the great wings on either side. The breeze whipped the figure's hair and robes around, the same as Robin's. But the red in the other woman's eyes, and the twisted sneer were all her own.

" **And you're still fighting your own blood, Robin? Clinging to your name as well, instead of our true identity."**

"GRIMA!" Lucina shouted out, before Robin could answer. "It's not just them facing you… we have a score to settle as well."

"…Ah, you. My weaker half's daughter." Grima's voice diminished at the sight of Lucina. "I have my own business with you; and there should be no interference from my human half, any longer."

That stilled Lucina for a moment.

"H-human? You mean-?"

Grima's breath rattled in and out, in a raspy laugh. The sound seemed to coax darker shapes, out of shadowy recesses where wings overlapped the back. Reinforcements, poised to spring on them.

" **When I pulled my strike against you, yes. You remember, don't you? My fangs failed to clash around you, thanks to the resistance from your mother. But now… we can make amends to that."** Grima raised her hand in a curt gesture, and the air hissed all around them. A flash of color cut at the corner of Robin's vision, violet crackling with black and forming into razor edged shards.

' _A spell!?'_ She realized… but too late to do anything, or cry out a warning to the others.

' _No…'_ They were all going to die, or be near enough to death that it won't matter. Easy pickings for the fell dragon, once the spells ripped through their flesh and left them bleeding out on the dragon's neck. Robin tried to get air into her lungs, but her body was sluggish. Her hand was a weight at her side, unable to reach Chrom, her daughter, or son.

A strangled noise came out of her throat, causing Chrom to turn… but too slow.

' _So that's how you want to play this.'_ The thought screamed through her head, almost as distorted as Grima's voice and with its own form of rage. _'You think I'll just watch!?'_

She dug nails into her palm, letting talons erupt from the tips and dig into the flesh of her palm. Her blood burned where it spilled, and the brand on her hand flared in response.

The violet spell shards shivered, faltering where they plunged through the air.

"Back. OFF." Robin snarled, throwing her hand forward. Counter magic surged off her hand, deflecting the magic. The spells burned out before they could ever strike the Shepherds, pushed away by a wave of energy-

Save for one shard, angled on her. Robin tried to call up another wave of power, only for her hand to go numb for a split second. The trace amounts of magic she had shuddered and came apart against the violet bolt.

Beyond, Grima's laugh mingled with a dragon's roar.

"Mother-!" Whether that was Lucina or Morgan, she didn't know. She didn't have time to face them, or dodge.

The spell slammed into her. Pain shrieked through her chest and turned her vision to black. Her ears still faintly worked, and heard Chrom shouting her name. Then came the impact of her body, the scales underneath her like stones and myriad thorns scuffing her skin.

"H…" Her throat worked. She forced her hand to tighten again, and spur the words out. "Hurry! Before she gets another chance-"

All around her the scales vibrated, from hooves, feet, and the clash of weapons. Screams echoed in her ears, painting a picture of the Grimleal rushing in to try and stop them short of the target.

"… **I underestimated you. It seems there's nothing you won't do, in exchange for your family and friends."** Grima's voice echoed in her ears. "But it all leads to the same finale."

The spell that cut into Robin gave another pulse, wracking her body with pain and dimming her senses.

Robin yelled at her limbs to move, to stand up… and yet they did nothing. She floated in blackness, alone. **"You've only stalled. I can send another volley… and with those spells piercing your flesh, I have you right where I want you. You've called up my power, bound yourself to me… now I'll take my dues."**

Her body was lead, and instead of heat, a coldness seeped from her hand.

"Is this it…?" Robin's voice was a wane thing, muted by the spell crackling through her. The sounds of battle were so distant now; she couldn't feel or hear the presence of the others. "I can't… see…" Her words struggled more and more. "I can't hear. Only… nothing."

' _Nothing.'_

How long had she been in this void? Minutes? Hours? The quiet was maddening, and no matter how she wanted to scream or cry, her body wouldn't answer.

Was this what had happened to her other self? Drowning in a blackness, isolated from everyone and everything she knew? And now, the same was poised to happen to her.

' _ **One-'**_

That wasn't her, Robin realized with a jolt.

' _ **One last throw of the dice.'**_ A voice echoed through the void, calling to her. She'd heard those words in her head so many times before, and now they echoed in her ears… and they were called to her, in her own voice.

' _ **One, last-'**_

"Throw of the dice." Robin finished the thought. Life shot back into her limbs. Grima screeched, rage and disbelief like blades in her ears. And yet, they still couldn't compare to what else she heard.

"Robin!? ROBIN, gods, don't give up now! Get back up and fight! We need you!" That was Chrom… she could have sworn she'd sent him ahead, and yet-

Robin stood up, right as a rush of light shot through her. A myriad of colors and flames danced in her vision, banishing the shadows. She thought faintly of Naga, promising to watch the final battle… and then her vision cleared. Two terrified faces waited for her.

"Mother!" Lucina and Morgan blurred the word together. Around them a battle raged, and yet they kept their eyes fixed on her.

"I swore for a second… it was like there was a shadow pulling you into Grima," Morgan tried to explain. Lucina simply tightened her hand on Robin's shoulder.

"I-I'm alright." Robin breathed out, and realized with a shock she was right. The wound from the spell was a fading memory. "Where's Chrom? I could've sworn…"

She trailed off as Lucina turned and pointed. Chrom was at the vanguard of their forces and a single lunge ahead, trying to cut through the Grimleal… but with one eye on her.

"Robin-?" He managed, before a spear tried to pierce his side. The same place where she'd shoved lightning into his ribs. The sight and memory yanked Robin to her feet, and kept the spinning sensation in her head down to a manageable level.

Lucina made a panicked noise at both motions… but Chrom found a burst of speed, dodging the spear so it didn't puncture his lungs. Instead the blade drew a ragged, scale flecked line across his side.

Robin snatched up the spell book at her side, letting power flood into a thunder spell and lashing it out in a whip crack. It fell like an axe, stopping the spear short of striking again.

Chrom twisted around to the source of the thunder… and he found himself facing Robin, right as her balance gave out and she stumbled into him. Robin slumped against Chrom's shoulder, trying to keep her hand up and the spells moving through her limb. The Grimleal were closing in on them-

A flurry of sword strikes and spells drove them back. Morgan and Lucina charged ahead, forming a gap. It gave Robin time to stand up.

"You're okay?" Chrom had just enough room to ask, his voice carrying the words to Lucina and Morgan. They paused their charge for a heartbeat.

"I'm working on it." Robin answered. She forced a deep breath, and her feet finally found their balance. She tried to step forward, only to find that Chrom trailed with her.

"Good, because…" his eyes gave her an almost pleading look.

' _Because I can't do this without you.'_

"…Come on." Robin managed. "We've still got a battle to win, and I won't give up that easily."

' _Because I know what I need to do now, and how the plan has to play out.'_

-o-o-o-

Chrom fought to keep his hands on Falchion, when they wanted to grab Robin by the wrist.

' _Focus on what you need to do.'_ The leather on Falchion gave a squeak, and Chrom tightened his fingers around it. He gave Robin a quick glance, reminding himself that she was still there.

A fluttering of fabric, and a baleful glow from red eyes reminded him of the other thing. Grima was standing just beyond them… waiting to be defeated.

With a deep breath, Chrom shrugged his shoulder out from Robin, and tilted forward into a dash. He swept past Morgan and Lucina and plunged into the fight, scales coating his arms in a second skin. Robin wore a similar armor of violet and black, an unnerving similarity to the armored plates underneath their feet. But it lent a quickness to her steps, and an extra snap to her spell casting. Chrom let his scales wash over his flesh, giving him a second layer of armor… and bringing a familiar fire to his blood.

With the Grimleal blocking his path, he needed that extra strength and speed. Falchion danced in his hands, more glimmering arc than sword. He forced himself forward, one step at a time, cutting a path through the Grimleal. A part of him ached to fly… but he also saw how Sumia battled with the winds, just a spear's reach above them. Cordelia and Cynthia flew behind her, falling into her slip stream as she battled the winds. Below rode Frederick, Sully, and Stahl, trying to account for any archers.

The entirety of the Shepherds fought, it seemed. Vaike and Lon'qu formed a shield around Lissa and Maribelle, the healers giving support and strengthening anyone who took wounds.

' _Eyes forward.'_ He reminded himself. _'You have to cut through, and…'_

Reach _her_.

Grima stood apart from the fighting, watching with impassive eyes. That aloof look didn't belong on Robin, and seeing that _thing_ wear her face shot red into his vision. He wondered if his eyes weren't a match for Grima's baleful gaze, glowing red or blue, with how his blood burned.

"I'll stop you." Chrom growled. And the reason it had to be him was just a step behind him; Robin faltered when her eyes found Grima, steps stilling for a moment. Almost like she was afraid the dragon would try to hook its claws back into her.

That pause didn't affect Chrom, and he barreled forward with a howl.

Robin might have tried to call out to him, to stall him. But Chrom closed his ears to her words, turning his head to Grima.

"I need a path through!" He shouted out. Tiki was closest to him and snapped her head up. In the same motion, magic encased her, parting to show a silver dragon. The manakete snapped her head forward and let loose a stream of flames, thinning the ranks. Miriel and Laurent followed, ducking in from behind her wings and boosting the flames with their own magic.

Leaving just enough of a gap for Chrom, and a path straight towards Grima. Chrom let another burst of power travel through him, to bring him close to the fell god.

"Chrom, what are you doing!?" Robin's voice cut into his ears. She was trying to cut him off… trying to get in a blow of her own-

Grima gave a curt gesture, and dark magic flowed from her fingers. Robin tried to cast a counter spell of lightning, only for the black energy to blast through her defenses. Knocking her flat and leaving her limp, struggling for breath.

Grima's eyes were fixed on Robin, watching her struggle to find her feet. The Fell Dragon didn't even glance at Chrom. Didn't notice how her side was exposed.

It was the best chance he had to strike. Chrom left the ground with a massive lunge, bringing his sword up and fully intending to bring it crashing down on Grima's head.

"Chrom, STOP!" Robin screamed out… but too late. The sword crashed down, slicing flesh-

And lodging in Grima's arm. She glared over her limb at Chrom.

" **A spirited attack… but not enough."** Grima told him, wrenching the sword aside with a violent motion. It yanked Chrom forward, almost face to face with Grima… and he froze, under the scarlet light of her eyes.

Something heavy crashed into his gut, flinging him back into the air. He left his breath and Falchion somewhere through that impromptu flight. The dragon plating dug into his flesh as Chrom gasped and wheezed, staring upwards. A set of black wings beat against the crimson sky… but smaller than the six limbs framing the battlefield.

Grima gave him a cold look as her wings cupped around her. A few feathers drifted in the breeze, proof on where the wings sprouted from her back. His scales seethed in answer, creeping along his neck and cheeks.

 **"...You're still clinging to that past shade of yourself? Do you really think it will help you? You can't save anyone, PRINCE."** Grima snapped out the last word.

 **"But you** _ **can**_ **give me a claw hold in your mind. So thank you for that. Thank you for staying the same, blind fool who doesn't bother to cover his weaknesses."** Her words slid into his ears, pushed past his skin and into his bones. His body shivered once, and froze up.

Something in him stirred at Grima's voice… and then answered it, leaving the rest of him numbed.

" **And since you went through the trouble of reaching me, perhaps I should honor that."** Her bloody arm slashed forward, hand clapping over Chrom's face. The violet light burned all the way through the flesh and bone of her hand, scouring Chrom's vision.

Chrom tried to wrench backwards, yank his head free… but something about that violet light stilled him. His branded shoulder ached, as did the scar in his side, like they were being ripped back open. His limbs were stone, the fire in them dimming for a moment.

" **Isn't that interesting?"** Grima's voice crooned in his ear. **"You are so dedicated to saving Robin. So devoted to her… well, perhaps now you can devote yourself to me."**

"What-?" Was the only word that squeaked out of Chrom's teeth. His throat closed around his voice, and his body followed it in going rigid.

He glimpsed her human avatar narrowing its eyes, a smile twisting across her face… and a distant look in her eyes. Like she was gazing into his mind. **"You're terrified of losing her, if she bests me."**

"Get… get out-!" Chrom tried to choke out, only for Grima to close phantom talons around his throat, silencing his words.

" **Hush now, Chrom. I never gave you leave to speak."** He gasped, trying to find air but receiving none, until Grima made a curt motion. He fell forward onto one knee, his lungs finally working. **"See what happens when you disobey? But… if you listen to me, there are rewards. If you cut Robin down, she can hardly slay me, now can she? Then we both get what we want."**

' _Madness.'_ He tried to tell himself… and yet his body rose at her gesture, the motions more fluid than before. Steps echoed in his hearing… and his body tensed up in answer.

" **Smart, young prince. You know a solution when you see one… now go carry it out."**

"CHROM-!" Robin tried to scream, only to stagger back, a gash opening along her shoulder from where Falchion cut.

" **Just as I thought."** Grima gave a satisfied chuckle.

" **It seems there's still something in you, Chrom. Something that still connects and binds you to me."** His side screamed from pain, with a crackle of energy. With that feeling, his vision darkened… and his arm reached out, of it's own will. Chrom found Falchion, fingers closing around the grip of the sword. As he yanked it up the world blurred out… and Grima whispered in his mind.

" **Do me a favor then… and get these pests off my back."**

-o-o-o-

A cold dread lanced through Lucina, stilling her heart and breath. Chrom's hit hadn't been a fatal blow to Grima. Their battle remained unfinished. She tightened her grip around her own blade, forcing herself to step forward. By her side, Robin found her feet and did the same. She drew out a new spell tome, sending a weaker thunder spell into the Grimleal to scatter them. Morgan threw a spell of his own to keep the gap open for them.

"Father!" Lucina cried out… and yet her voice didn't seem to reach him. He didn't turn to their voices, or their footsteps. Instead he faced Grima, not even flinching from her touch.

She watched her father freeze in front of Grima, a body wide flinch moving through him as though he'd just been struck.

Something was wrong. Her father never held himself like that, slack and broken, a puppet dancing to someone's whim.

"What did she-?" Lucina tried to say.

"Lucina, watch your flank!" Came a voice; she didn't think Olivia was capable of shouting like that, but she was proved wrong. The dancer weaved in and planted the sword in the back of a Grimleal, stopping them short from swinging a weapon down on Lucina. Inigo followed her, adept at mirroring her movements, and trying to help cover for Lucina.

Nearby, Severa and Kjelle stood guard over Morgan, trying to fend off enemies that had slipped closer.

' _When you let your guard down, just because of what you saw-'_ Her stomach still churned, despite how she scolded herself, once she looked the chaos, Robin had slipped closer to Chrom, while Lucina and Morgan languished behind. Chrom had lurched forward to meet her, Grima watching in a way that curled nausea in Lucina's gut.

"Chrom…?" Robin stretched out a hand to him-

And yanked back when Chrom surged forward, trying to smash his shoulder into her.

"Father!?" Lucina blurted out. The Grimleal swept in from the sides, cutting her off and forcing her on the defensive. She could only watch now… and find room in her lungs to scream at Grima.

"What did you do to him!?"

" **Oh, child…"** Grima's voice seethed, rattling as a croon tried to work into her words. **"I've enslaved your father once before. Why wouldn't I do so again?"**

A mocking laugh assaulted Lucina's ears. It, and the blank look in Chrom's face, chilled her blood. He closed with Robin, striking out with Falchion… and hitting his target, Robin too numbed with shock to fully dodge. Her mother flinched from the blade by reflex, and the sword cut a skimming trail across her chest.

"Mother!" Lucina's shriek tore at her throat, and yanked tears from her eyes. Robin staggered back from the cut, blood flecking her skin and teeth grit from pain.

"Mother, what are you doing!? Fight back!" Morgan shouted, trying to break through the line of Grimleal to reach them. But Robin only shook her head, dismay writ across her face and slowing her movements. She kept the sword and spell tome confined to her side, constantly retreating from Chrom's attacks.

The cut across her chest seemed to squirm, purple and black scales trying to knit the wound together… but shivering and failing to close her flesh.

' _Falchion.'_

Each time the blade licked out, another cut parted Robin's skin. Another line of scales traced over her flesh, but failed to close the wounds. She was slowly dying from a dozen, bleeding cuts.

" **Either drive her into my grip again, or kill her."** Grima's words urged Chrom on, into another flurry of blows. **"I'm not particular on which."**

-o-o-o-

Robin grit her teeth, trying to ignore the myriad cuts aching across her skin… and again across her face. The pain refused to leave her, and when she squinted her eyes, a wet tearing sound stretched along her cheeks-

"Robin, LOOK OUT!" Sumia's warning came from above, almost a second too late. Robin flinched back, Falchion skimming a line across her left eye, barely missing the pupil. A moment slower, and it would've taken her head. Blood welled from the cut, and her vision blurred… before going sharp. Too sharp; a twitching in her face reminded Robin why that was, as four extra eyes blinked to life in her face.

" **Well… maybe we'll have a more level playing field after all."** Grima sneered. Robin saw why; with the extra eyes, Chrom's movements were clear as any opponent she'd ever faced. Easy to dance between-

To counter attack if she so chose-

' _NO!'_ Robin screamed at herself, clamping her fingers down on a handful of lightning. She let the spell rattle through her arm, turning every nerve into a dull, shivering mess. She didn't even feel the claws digging into and drawing blood from her palms. Her arm had turned into a mess of scales at this point, so similar to the monster's back.

"… **I wonder."** Grima continued, a laugh forming a twisted undercurrent to her words. **"What would happen if you fully transformed? Would I be able to take over you, as easily as your poor, fool of a husband? Or your children, for that matter? I'm certain to gain more of hold in all of you, the longer this goes on."**

Robin bit back a curse, terrified that Grima could have been right. Her form was wavering, and it felt like keeping it in human shape was a losing battle, the longer this fight lasted.

And with Chrom standing between her and Grima, she didn't know how to stop that change short.

-o-o-o-

He sleepwalked through a nightmare. His vision couldn't decide if it was blacked out, or hazy-

And when it was hazy, a small part of Chrom wished he was blind. Blood splashed across the silver and blue scales of his arms and hands.

' _Robin's blood-'_ his thoughts choked out, and he wished it was his own, that the wounds were his. He wanted to still his hands, to scream for Robin to get away, or fight back.

But none of that happened. Robin's only action was to flinch away from each of his strikes.

Was this what it had been like, for the future-past Robin? Powerless to do anything, a silent spectator to her own body?

The more he tried to fight, the murkier his sight and thoughts became. It was like a great weight pressed down on him, wrapped around him, suffocating him with each breath.

' _Don't fight it, Chrom.'_ The weight seemed to whisper. His arms yanked forward again, growing more and more eager to follow each command. _'Strike her down.'_

He tried to get his feet to still their charge. For an instant, they stumbled-

Pain bloomed again in his side, shredding that scrap of control. Grima latched her talons back into his mind, spurring him forward.

' _ **Chrom, you don't want to fight me.'**_ The voice crooned. _ **'You'd do anything for me, wouldn't you? In this life, or in the past. You'd tear out your own heart for me, give up your own life for me. Striking down that false me, that traitor, should be an easy task for you.'**_

Something hot pricked the corners of his eyes and ran down his face. Tears, Chrom realized. Robin must have seen them too, with how she froze and stared at him.

 **' _Perfect. I'll forgive those tears and that weakness… if you strike, NOW_ _._ _'_**

The order snapped through his body, so fast his muscles and bones all screamed out from the wrenching force. He lifted the blade, swung it down at Robin… and she met his eyes the entire time.

"Fight-!" The word was only a sob, half strangled in his throat… but Robin heard, at least for an instant. She brought her spell tome up, drawing lightning from it. At the sight, something throbbed in his ribs, a burn that spread out from scar tissue and threatened to sweep over his body-

The sensation cut off, when the spell slammed into Falchion, wrenching the blade from his hands. He overbalanced from the attack, crashing down. His body stayed limp and curled in, unable to stand back up.

But Robin was safe, at least for a moment.

" **You're struggling, Chrom. Perhaps that form is holding you back."** Grima sounded almost pitying. **"And you DO seem to lack a bit of presence, locked in that shape."**

His skin twitched in answer, the exposed, human flesh rippling and restless.

" **You have my permission, Chrom. Shed that weak flesh, for something more suitable."** He couldn't fight against that command, anymore than resist the whispers to swing his sword. Heat stained his ribs once more, bringing searing pain with it… and silver flames. The fire wreathed Chrom, his shape distorting, muscles swelling as the scales strained to accommodate them.

Through the white fire was a dark blur, that resolved into a person.

Robin darted forward, a desperate look as she latched her hands around his arm. The fire jumped to her, eating into her skin and making violet scales bloom… but she still refused to loosen her grip, yanking at his arm and something on it. Talons erupted from her fingers, clawing at him, shearing through straps-

She fell back as his form completely melted, clutching something golden against her chest.

" **The Emblem…"** Grima said, right as Chrom picked out the details of the shield.

" **You're a persistent wretch, I'll give you that."** Grima spat. **"But that paltry shield won't stop him. Chrom!"**

He snapped forward, locked into a draconic shape and almost thrown towards Robin at Grima's command. His jaws opened wide, ready to snap down on her head-

"Not happening!" Came a shout, followed by a blur of gold robes. Owain slashed, his sword rattling against Chrom's fangs and wrenching his head to the side.

' _ **Pitiful. Is that all you can do? Was I wrong in giving you this task?'**_

Rage coated his mind, at being so thwarted. Disappointment burned through him, knowing he'd failed, and he turned to the swordsman with a shriek.

A silver eyesore greeted him, and Tiki hissed defiance at him. Say'ri stood at her side, sword leveled against him. In answer Chrom slashed out with his claws, catching Say'ri across the armor and blade, throwing her into Tiki and forcing her back. Before he could close his teeth around her throat, another pair of dragons, pink and gold angled down and slashed at him with talons. One caught him across the forehead, blurring his vision with blood. Another pair of dark shapes, wyverns dove at him, and a pair of axes crashed against his horns, deafening him.

When he blinked his eyes clean, the foes had changed-

' _Foes-?'_ His thoughts were twisting, the Shepherds in front of them losing distinction in their faces.

" **Go on. Burn all of them away."** Grima hissed.

-o-o-o-

"No, no-" Lucina choked out, watching the unthinkable unfold before her. The maddened dragon lunged at the Shepherds, and the ranks of the Grimleal seemed to swarm in answer.

"Gods, no-!" The last of her father seemed to burn away, leaving only rage in those glowing blue eyes. Grima's laugh rang out, louder than any clash of steel.

" **So much for bonds… perhaps I should enslave you and your brother next?"** Grima mocked them, a sneer of white teeth almost splitting her face in half. In the corners of Lucina's vision, the remaining Shepherds fought to keep the Grimleal at bay… while those close by tried to ward off the silver-blue dragon.

All of them seemed to be a losing battle.

"You're not getting into my head again!" Morgan still threw that back at Grima… but Lucina didn't miss the way his hands shook, fumbled with his spell book as he tried to cast.

"We… we can still win this, right? Luci?" His next words were little more than a whimper… and trailed off as Grima walked towards them. Her Grimleal parted before her, and she fixed her eyes on Lucina.

" **With the two of you under my sway, we can be a family again. You DO remember your mother, don't you-?"** Something seemed to shroud her vision, at Grima's words. And the dragon's voice didn't have quite the same biting, mocking edge as before. There was almost something welcoming in her words-

Color stained her gloves and flesh, a glow leaking from her eyes. Her fingers were cast in blue on one hand… the other, a rich crimson, easily echoing that of Grima.

' _What is she-?'_ Lucina stopped the thought short; she already knew what Grima was doing. Likely the exact same thing that had happened to Chrom.

Nearby, Morgan gave a pained noise. A second later he bumped into her shoulder, his feet scuffing the armor plating where he tried to move forward. Towards Grima. Rage shot through Lucina at that; even now, the beast was trying to control her brother again.

"You are NOT my mother!" Lucina spat out, showing her teeth. She already knew they'd turned to fangs, and she readily bared them against Grima. She stepped in front of Morgan, blocking him from Grima's sight. And at her shout, Morgan stiffened.

The shadow in her own head gave a shudder and receded, in the face of her anger. "And if I have to finish the job myself…"

She'd have to find a way, even as her body screamed protests under Grima's sight. The Fell Dragon only smiled at her, like she was watching a kitten challenge a rabid dog, and found the whole thing an amusing diversion.

" **With what? Your blade may be one of Naga's fangs… but it isn't the same Falchion as it was eons ago. And as for this…"** Grima trailed off, stopping in her tracks. Lucina followed her gaze down… to where Falchion lay, almost thrumming against the scales of the dragon. The edges of blade turned an eye searing white, when Grima closed her hand around the sword and lifted it up.

" **This pitiful trinket of Naga. You thought to best me with a single fang?"** Grima sneered... And hurled Falchion away. The blade flashed once, before scrapping across the scales of the fell dragon... And falling off the side, into an open sky.


	70. Blood of Dragons

**Chapter 70: Blood Of Dragons**

It was a little amazing, how everything had gone to hell in just a minute. Morgan marveled over that in the back of his head. All while his eyes darted between Grima, his mother and transformed father, and the vanishing Falchion.

He didn't blame Lucina for slumping forward, leaning against her own blade. The edges dug into the plates of the great dragon… and yet seemed oddly dull, after watching Falchion vanish.

' _Ok might want to do something about that.'_ Came that same small voice in the back of his head.

"MORGAN!" He whirled at Lucina's cry, meeting her eye to eye for just a moment. Then his gaze yanked to the dwindling glimmer of Falchion, almost swallowed by the clouds.

"On it!" Morgan snapped into action, rushing past the Grimleal… save for one heavily armored general, which he readily crashed into. Flames coated his body, reflected into double brightness from the sheen of the Grimleal armor. The man's spear uselessly shuddered off Morgan scales, and his wings beat the air. They gave him an extra push, and he leaped from the general… though with the addition of a heavy shield clutched in his talons.

"I need to borrow this, thanks, bebackrealsoon!" Were his last words to Lucina, before he dropped off the side of Grima's neck. If his sister shouted something to him, Morgan lost it over the howl of the winds.

The heavy shield added weight to him, yanking him down. Far, far below him was a flash of Falchion falling end over end. Morgan squinted against the buffeting winds, which only seemed to shriek all the more, the faster he fell.

"Still need to catch up," he said to himself, closing his eyes. He focused inward, on the throbbing of his heart and the heat building underneath his skin… and the mass of power above him. Even falling through the air hadn't dimmed that. And the fire in his blood readily answered his call. His limbs grew heavy from the scales starting to coat them. And he dropped like a stone, arm reaching out to the growing shape of Falchion.

-o-o-o-

Fire dripped from Chrom's jaws. With a shriek he threw his head back, orange and red heat leaking from the motion. He spat fire, heedless of where the inferno splashed. Grimleal who were too slow were caught up in the flames, screaming as they died.

Grima's answer was to laugh, and urge him on. He turned on the Shepherds, hating the bright gleam of their armor and weapons. He gathered another breath, the fire building in his lungs-

"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!" Came a voice, and the Shepherds answered, melting back behind the lines of remaining Grimleal as a shield. Chrom narrowed his eyes, looking for the source of the voice.

He found Robin.

Through it all, she hadn't moved a single step. Instead she concentrated her motions on her arms, turning the Emblem and holding it out at him. Stray flames licked out from his jaws, only to bounce off the shield. The gemstones were like stars, eating his fire and glowing back at him.

A hum, almost like a lullaby reached his ears, Robin straining for breath but trying to continue the melody. One that he'd heard from Lucina so many times.

' _I- I don't remember the words…'_ Try as he did to recall; only memories of screams and fires reached him now. Of flying over Ylisse, buoyed on by dark whispers and commands in his brain.

" **Chrom, don't be so soft hearted over a simple song. I thought you hated hearing it, in this life… of the memories and power it tried to call up in you."** Grima urged him on. His claws gouged chunks in the armor plates, body fighting between moving forward and staying put.

"… **What are you doing!?"** Grima hissed at him. But something about her voice was muted now; something else seemed to stir in the back of his head. Something that had a voice.

" _I-"_ Between Grima, himself, and the new voice, his head was getting crowded.

"… _I remember this."_ Said the voice. _"Being a puppet to her whim… powerless to resist."_

In his mind's eye, he saw a dark human figure. The burning, blue eyes met his gaze, and his own voice spoke back to him.

" _This was the only way I could remain with her, even though she was a twisted shade of what she once was. I couldn't find it in me to fight… but there is still someone left for you. Someone who isn't Grima."_

Chrom blinked his eyes, and found his vision changing. His mirror image flickered out like a mirage… showing Robin, **his** Robin standing before him.

' _ **You BELONG to me!'**_ The grip on his mind tightened, almost possessive. _'_ _ **You have one foot in the grave, with that past phantom lurking in your mind.'**_

The phantom shivered back into his vision, and he swore blood burned along the man's ribs.

The tips of his talons shuddered, his forelimbs going weak where he watched his own form. He wasn't meant to be hunched over like this, clad in scales and wings… not compared to the figure before him. Human, and standing proud.

' _One foot in the grave… and I can't leave you yet.'_ His mirror answered, and his vision blurred. _'Not until you remember what it is you need to do.'_

-o-o-o-

Morgan stretched out his fingers, straining to bridge the gap and close around the sword.

"Come on, reach!" He grit out between his teeth… and talons stretched from his fingers, almost enough to brush and snag against the red leather grip. Almost, but not quite.

The ocean was approaching faster than he wanted. And no matter how he fell, he couldn't outpace the presence still humming in the back of his head.

" **Come now, Morgan. My dearest child,"** the voice hissed in his head. Both like his mother's and not. **"I almost had you under my wing once. It was a lapse of control that you escaped. One I can easily remedy when you surrender."**

When. The word rang in his head, inevitable. **"I promise you won't feel lost again, nor alone. Think of it, you and your sister as my right and left hands. And none would be your equal."**

Instead of giving into the voice and changing all the way Morgan gave another shove with his wings. He tried to shut the voice out, almost closed the gap between him and Falchion-

" **You would make me so proud, my son."**

His mind went blank at those words and he skewed out of his dive. The gap between him and the sword sprang back open, like the sword had flinched out of his grip at that thought… and that momentary rush of longing that shot through him, at Grima's words.

"You're. Not-" he tried to repeat Lucina's words but they dried in his throat.

" **Oh but I am. We all carry the same fell blood."** His hand had curled back against him, and the violet brand on it glowed. Pushing a few more scales onto the surface of his hand. **"You remember the Table, don't you?"**

The memory sprang back; how he'd almost drowned in grief, how Validar's power nearly pulled him under, into a black shadow-

' _But it didn't. And I know why.'_

"W-We do have the same blood..." He held his hand out, as the clouds parted around him and the sea rushed up to meet him. He stared into the six eyed brand, like he was staring at Grima herself. "But mother fights it. She chose _**us**_ over you... And I'll gladly do the same!"

His wings answered, giving one last churn that brought him back in line with Falchion. And before Grima could answer, his hand snapped out, closing around Falchion. His other dropped the shield that had been his weight, and he watched as it plummeted before smashing against the waves.

His wings fanned out, pushing at the air and wrenching him upwards. Morgan clutched Falchion close to his chest, the blade almost shivering against him, and staining the corners of his vision with shifting colors.

The hum of the sword seemed to push extra strength into his wings. He flew back to Grima like an arrow from a bow. And prayed that he hadn't taken too much time.

-o-o-o-

The faint melody pressed at his hearing, dimming Grima's voice and pushing a headache into it's place. He raised a claw up, to smash down on Robin and the Emblem both, to silence her song for good-

"CHROM, come on! You can't tell me you're going to let this stop you!" A voice screamed in his hearing in the absence of Grima… and he looked beyond the Emblem, to see a figure in gold and yellow standing beside Robin. She'd made her way past the Grimleal, to stand by the tactician's side.

He snarled in answer, claws twitching.

Something in the back of his head said that he should have known who that girl was; she was someone important to him… much like the one holding the shield up. The silver gemstone gleamed bright, causing Grima to spit and snap.

" **Are you so weak, my servant? You are raw power, you are a perfect form now; kill them-!"**

"Nay!" Shouted another voice. "Milord, you aren't beholden to this fiend!" A knight in armor, atop a horse appeared. Shadowing him was a pegasus rider, and near her was a swordswoman, the black of her hair freely flowing.

"I pledged to follow you to the end of your quest!" The swordswoman shouted out, and the green of a second gem joined the silvery light. A pulse of red followed, as a woman in armor and a sword joined Robin's side.

"That same oath holds true for me; you're not going to leave the job half finished, are you?" The woman called out, her voice proud and commanding.

"Chrom…" Robin finished her song and tried again, over the black and violet glow of the darkest gem. That single word seemed to brush past the dark cloud in his thoughts… and made Grima give a furious scream.

" **NO! I said kill them! Kill-!"** Fire built in his chest at the words…

"…ather-" The last voice was little more than a whimper, with an almost lost note to it. A blue hair figure stepped in front of Robin… and leveled a blade against him, pain showing clear in her eyes.

That look stabbed into him, more than any blade could. And it froze the fire in his throat.

"Father," she said again. The final, blue gem of the Emblem blazed bright, and the color was echoed in her eyes. "Please… you have strength, and mother already proved once that our bonds are greater than anything else."

" **Shut up! All of you!"** Grima's voice flared.

A pressure shoved down in his head, trying to pry his jaws open-

"FATHER!" Came a shout from above… and a gleam of sharp metal that sliced down in front of his eyes. A cut opened along the side of his face, sharp and bleeding… but with that sensation, and the pain with it, the pressure in his head seemed to recoil, as though struck as well.

" **What…?"** In the pause, where Grima loosened her grip, Chrom snapped his head down. Flame sprang from his jaws and washed over his own claws. His eyes found Falchion, the blade glowing with power and standing strong against his fire. It had been bathed in flames far greater, after all.

The Falchion's golden glow blended with the Emblem… and with those shining in his vision, Chrom found strength enough, to wrench his control and form away from Grima. He twisted around, no longer facing the Shepherds and roared a challenge at Grima. His vision still blurred and his form shuddered, barely standing against Grima's presence.

" **You'll pay for that defiance,"** Grima said… and beyond her, a massive shape parted the clouds. The fog and blackened clouds streamed off a giant neck, which twisted about like a snake. A mammoth set of jaws opened, as though they could swallow the sun… and six red eyes glared down at them. The body of Grima acted on the whim of its avatar. Just like Chrom had, a moment ago.

"I-!" A pained noise reached him, and something crashed against his foreleg. He picked out Lucina, clutching her head, unable to tear her gaze from the scarlet eyes. Her body went rigid, her breathing strained.

" **Still so terrified, small one?"** Grima mocked. **"Not much has changed since our last confrontation, it seems. Though perhaps now, that I know my same blood is in you… perhaps you can serve a better purpose than just dying."**

As she spoke, the dragon's head loomed closer. All her focus was bent on Lucina… and on twisting her shape. He just glimpsed a pair of horns adding lines of red to Lucina's hair, as they tore free from her head. Grima's jaws opened, a strange laugh echoing in them… and with it, a rumble of dragon fire. The creature couldn't seem to decide on if it would crush his daughter, or bath her and everyone else in an inferno.

" **Submit. I can dig into your mind, through the bond we share. Just like I did your father-"**

He didn't let her finish. Instead Chrom threw himself forward with a rush of wings. He churned his way into the sky, closing the gap between him and Grima in a heart beat. It was like attacking a mountain… though that mountain could bleed, the same as him. One of the crimson eyes went wide, but that didn't save it from the gout of flame Chrom shot into the socket. The red blacked out, and the head pitched back with a ground shaking scream.

The force from that motion threw him back, sent him crashing into the fell dragon's back. He felt more than one body break underneath him, before he came to a stop, and he caught the black armor of the Grimleal scattered in his wake.

" **DAMN YOU!"** Grima screeched, trying to lash at his mind. Instead, the cut in his face ached… and his form started to melt and compress. His body shifted back to human. And with it, all the injuries he'd taken caught up to him. When his breath came out in a moan, it was in a human's voice, instead of a dragon's snarl.

-o-o-o-

Grima's voice dimmed in her head, thanks to the attack from Chrom. But now her father lay in a battered heap… and the whispers threatened to seep into Lucina's mind again.

Robin stumbled forward, hand outstretched to Chrom. All six eyes were narrowed, a pained look that Lucina had _never_ seen on Grima etched across Robin's face. She looked ready to cling to Chrom, to ensure that he really was back and safe, free from Grima's grip. The way Lucina's feet shuddered, she knew the same was true for herself.

Silver glimmered all along Chrom's body, and a pair of blue wings wrapped around his body like a second cape. The rest of his shape was human though… and his eyes focused on Robin's face.

"S-sorry…" Chrom rasped out. "I… I almost…"

He shuddered, trying and failing to find his feet. Lissa rushed forward, wincing from where her hands touched Chrom.

"Gods, you're like a furnace," she muttered, shaking her head. Her fingers came away red where they touched his cheek, and Lucina swore she saw the blood steam in the air.

An answering trail of something warm ran over her jaw, and she was reminded of the two weights on her head. Lucina tried to strain her eyes and look at the horns… only to pause when she caught sight of a shape overhead.

Above her, Morgan wheeled about before coming in for a landing.

"I had to scramble for the sword… but it looks like I came just in time?" He stumbled forward, wings carrying his body more than his legs. Lucina surged upright and caught him, holding him steady until he found his balance.

Then, she looked over her shoulder… to where Falchion still rested, embedded in the armor of Grima. Chrom hadn't moved to pick it up, as he still struggled upright. Lissa hovered over him, yelling at him to stay still, to mixed effect.

"So, what's the next step-?" Morgan paused when Lucina pressed her sword into his hands.

"…Mother and Father are both wounded." Which meant it was up to them, to strike at Grima. Or at least keep the monster busy. And the awakened Falchion stood there, ready for the taking-

But when she turned to Falchion, her eyes caught on Grima, standing just beyond the blade. And the glare in her red eyes dared Lucina to take another step, to try and take up the blade.

Her breath came short, and her fangs cut at her lips when Lucina glared at the dragon. She hated being under Grima's glare.

" **It's a mutual feeling, child."** Grima hissed out. **"We wouldn't be here, if you hadn't been such a thorn in my side."**

Why was she still shivering under that glare, even now? She screamed at her feet to move, to do something other than shiver under the glare of the dragon.

' _It's just like before-'_

"Lucina-? What's wrong?"

" **Perhaps I should remind you."** Grima took a step forward, and the dragon's head snaked forward. The head looked a touch more lopsided than before, missing one eye. **"Perhaps I should remind you, just how weak and helpless you really are. You STILL are."**

The draconic mouth gaped open, a tell tale rumble traveling through the throat. Dark mist boiled out between the teeth… and the memory of screaming defiance at those jaws slammed into Lucina.

" **It's your turn now. Either die, or join your strength to mine. It's victory for me, either way."**

"Lucina, don't listen to her!" Morgan urged. "She's not-"

He had to cut off, and brought the parallel Falchion up in a glimmer. A crash of steel echoed as Morgan parried an axe blade, throwing back a Grimleal soldier. More were trying to close in on the two, and her brother turned into a whirlwind as he tried to hold them back.

" **He always was the brave one, wasn't he? Jumping in to save you whenever you're in trouble… and to think, YOU'RE supposed to be the elder sibling. But that's what comes from holding yourself back."**

"Be… Be quiet…" Lucina tried to say. And yet she couldn't find the strength in her voice.

" **Of course, you HAVE become a touch different, since we last faced each other."** Grima continued, her voice almost patronizing. **"You've learned a few things about yourself… that you carry my blood. And you're almost a match for that legacy, now."**

Her head ached, her limbs going heavy, twisted, and ugly from the mess of scales. She glared at Grima through her mismatched eyes. A pressure built along her back, ready to erupt outwards.

" **What's going to be different this time, child? That you'll fall even faster than before? LOOK AROUND YOU!"** The voice cracked out in an order… and Lucina cursed herself as she flinched, and her eyes flickered around to see the others. All of them struggling. **"Aversa spoke the truth; all your struggles and pain has bought you** _ **nothing.**_ **"**

"I…"

Her gaze fell on her parents. Robin had pulled Chrom to his feet. He hadn't flinched from her changes, still clinging onto her.

"…I know my family now." Lucina whispered… yet Grima seemed to still hear her.

"… **What!? What did you say!?"**

"M-my family. I know them now. Before, I fought to uphold the legacy and memory of an Exalt. But it's more than that, now." Because through everything, her family had never stopped fighting for her, or trusting her. "I have my bonds with them… and their strength!"

" **Then see how feeble that strength is!"** Grima screeched, and a blast of dark fire streamed from Grima's mouth. The dragon didn't care how it scorched its own back became, shards of violet erupting from the scales. Lucina threw herself forward, and yanked Falchion free from Grima's back.

Behind her she heard the others flinch from the blast, scrambling to get out of the way… and fanned her wings out, the limbs bursting from her shoulders.

"Luci-!?" Morgan cut off as she snapped those limbs over him, forming a rough shield… before snapping them forward, trying to form a wash of wind against the flames. Morgan clued into that fast enough, his hand going to the spell book and charging the air with magic. With Lucina's wings stirring up a wind, they formed a rough barrier against them and the attack.

The fire slammed into them long before it hit any of the Shepherds, and they did the best to take the brunt of it, when it shredded the magic defenses. Lucina grit her teeth, feeling the scales blister off, only for new ones to take their place. Her taloned hands tightened on the sword, and brought it forward in a vicious cut.

She sliced through the flames, right as Grima's breath ran out… and the human portion of Grima stood, staring in shock that they'd survived.

"…Different enough for you?" Lucina growled… right before she charged forward.

"Lucina!?" Chrom yelped out, his voice free of any snarls or growls. There was plenty of panic… and she heard her mother echo Chrom, calling out for her and Morgan both. "What are you doing!?"

"Showing what's changed!" Lucina answered, not daring to look over her shoulder. She might have hesitated if she did-

But there was a pounding of feet behind her, easily audible as her wings lifted her up. It showed that her family wasn't far behind her, and Lucina twitched her wings. She let them lift her up into the air-

" **You dare-"** Grima hissed. She readied a spell, and magic crackled around her. It charged the air, and with a wince Lucina realized another gout of fire was going to slam into her.

Morgan lead, sword out… only for his eyes to widen and furiously fan back with his wings. A moment later, his Falchion struck something in the air, a thin skein of violet that hovered between Grima and them.

"You're hiding behind a barrier!?" Morgan snapped out, slashing with the parallel Falchion to try and break through. Grima only smirked at him, readying a spell to counter attack.

" **How much control do you have left?"** Grima asked. **"Will you have left, once this finishes with y-?"**

A blur of silver smashed forward, knocking Morgan aside.

Even without a sword, Chrom still managed to draw blood. He crashed through the remains of the barrier, slashing with a white and silver flecked arm. Violet light bled across the tips of his talons… and opened the barrier up all the way for Lucina.

' _Naga, guide my sword. Let this be what finishes it-'_

Morgan pushed forward on his wings, Grima throwing a hand out reflexively to shield against him-

And blind to Lucina, carrying Chrom's Falchion. She smashed into Grima, leading with the blade. The shifting colors on the edges showed bright against Grima's robe. With a furious howl, Grima swung her hand around to Lucina.

"Look out!" Morgan crashed into her, knocking her out of the spell path. Black energy shot through the space her chest had been, crackling with the same intensity as a Thoron spell.

Lucina's breath froze, realizing Grima had tried to do the same thing to her, as she had to Chrom-

And that in her shock, she'd let go of Falchion. She and Morgan slammed into Chrom, then into the ground, sparks leaping from the scales where they slid along Grima's back. Lucina lashed out with her claws, trying to stop their slide.

She looked up, praying to see Grima dead… and her heart dropped into her stomach.

Falchion stayed buried in Grima's ribs, grazing her side. Not a mortal wound, like Lucina had prayed for.

" **Futile efforts."** The dragon laughed. **"But you're all in one place now. Right where I want you-"**

"And I could say the same thing." Came another voice. Lucina wrenched her head up to see Robin, stepping right next to Grima. A second later, a golden light blinded her eyes, and a roar of thunder threatened to deafen her ears.

-o-o-o-

Falchion made for an incredible conduit, as it turned out. The divine steel easily channeled her thunder spell.

" **S-stop. R-return…"** Yet Grima still choked out words, through the blood in her mouth, as Robin readied the spell. **"Return to me… we are one in the same, Robin-!"**

Robin's answer was to draw the last ounces of power from the spell book. The tome dissolved, sending out one final thoron spell lancing through every inch of Grima's form. Above her, the dragon's head screamed and froze for a moment, from the force of the spell.

Her mirror image slumped forward, shock in her eyes. And a moment of weakness clear.

"Robin!?" Came Chrom's voice. He stood over Morgan and Lucina both, trying to pull them to their feet. "You did it! You weakened Grima enough! Now let me-"

He stilled, when Robin raised her hand.

" **What are you doing!?"** Grima said. **"You've spent all your spells! You have nothing-"**

"You said it yourself…" Robin whispered, a dark energy rippling through her body, coalescing along her arm and forming in her hand. Each of her eyes were trained on Grima, watching disbelief and outrage war in her doppelganger. "We're one and the same. Your power is the same as mine… and Falchion has you too weak to use it, so it must flow to me."

" **How can this-?"**

"I've finally figured it out; those words that lingered in my head ever since Chrom found me." Robin met Grima's gaze, never flinching once from the red lights. "One last throw of the dice."

" **What… are you talking about?"** And for the first time, she heard doubt in the dragon's voice.

"That you were never completely in control, no matter what you thought."

" **What folly are you spewing!? I am Grima; I am a GOD!"** Her mirrored self snapped back… but with a moment of doubt in those crimson eyes.

"You're so all knowing and mighty, so answer me this… why couldn't you stop that other me from pulling that strike against Lucina, in the other Ylisse? And whose idea was it, to chase Lucina into the past? To reach that one place where you're vulnerable, and can permanently die?"

Grima didn't answer, instead giving out an enraged scream. She lashed about, but Falchion kept her pinned in place.

"…This wasn't a bad plan, all things considered. But then, I'm guessing the other me had a lot of time to think it out. And it's time I saw it complete."

Beyond, she saw Chrom running towards her, arm outstretched.

' _I'm sorry.'_ She managed that, before focusing on Grima.

"For once, I'm glad you and I are the same." Robin kept her eyes fixed on Grima, raising her hand up high. Her fingers shivered as magic coiled up in arm and gathered in her palm, crackling and shimmering with purple light. It was much like her father's power... but for a different purpose.

She wrenched her hand down, bringing the surge of energy along with it. The magic raced down the blade as a conductor, biting into Grima's flesh.

For a heartbeat, she almost _heard_ the red staining Grima's voice, in one final death cry. The world went a blinding white as the spell struck Grima's heart… and for an instant, it felt like Robin had torn out her own.

When her vision cleared, her other self was gone… and the great dragon itself stilled in the air, before gravity took over.

"Robin!? GODS, ROBIN!" Chrom was still running towards her, even though Grima was dissolving away. He kept his balance among the pitching, roiling scales… and all but crashed into her. Yet somehow, the impact didn't stagger her like it should have.

Robin reached a hand up to him… and saw how wisps of violet drifted off of her, and seemed to take a little of her form with them, with each breath she took.

-o-o-o-

"Robin…" Chrom choked out, staring down at her.

He clung to her, like his grip could keep her anchored to this spot. To life itself. She blinked up at him, the red vanishing from her eyes, and the extra eyes turning into scarlet embers that easily drifted free from her face.

"I won't-" He choked out, heart feeling like it was getting torn loose with each beat.

"Chrom… It had to be like this." Robin's voice was so faint, barely a breath against his face and ears. Hearing it, and feeling her body fade only tore at his chest all the more-

And prompted an echoing ache, in his ribs.

The words of his other self rushed over him like a thunderclap.

' _One foot in the grave…'_ And still a trembling connection to his past self. A connection to Grima. He stared down at Robin, and with a jolt saw that his arms had faded out.

From how she froze, Robin saw it as well. He followed her eyes, to a point in his side. While the rest of him went hazy, a gleam of light seemed to focus in one spot over his ribs.

"Ch-Chrom!?" Her peace and acceptance from landing the final blow vanished. Panic filled Robin's voice. "What… what's happening to you? I-"

"You're not the only one with a connection to Grima…" And he wasn't about to let her face whatever was to come, alone. He should have felt afraid from the way his body lost solidity. But all he had room for was determination.

"I still have one foot in the grave, and a connection to Grima myself. Thanks to that past shade, and what the dragon did to me… and apparently that's enough for her demise to do the same thing to me, as it is to you."

"…The same is true for us." Both their heads yanked up at that voice, and a sour taste settled in Chrom's mouth. Lucina and Morgan stood before them… their eyes glowing blue, and purple light settling along their hand and shoulders. And there was a translucent quality to their clothes and bodies.

"We've got the same blood." Morgan pointed out. A hint of sky was visible through a patch in his shoulder, and that same transparency spread through his arm. Lucina sheathed her parallel Falchion, the motion showing how faint her wrist was.

' _Their marks… they give a connection as well?'_

Dread tried to close back in on Chrom's chest.

' _They don't have to risk themselves, too!'_ He tried to say that out loud… but a rush of air stole his words. Further down Grima's back, the other Shepherds pitched forward, losing their balance.

" _Child of Naga…"_ A faint voice reached his ears. _"I have just enough power left, to spirit your kin and companions off Grima… and yet I cannot reach you?"_

Robin must have heard, with how she gave Chrom a startled blink. She was little more than motes, suspended in a vague image. He wasn't far behind her; he could see Falchion laying across Grima's neck, the blade glowing through the thin shape that used to be his arm.

"That's because I've made my choice," Chrom managed. Distantly, he heard Lissa screaming their names.

"Lissa, I'm sorry-" He managed. "For doing this to you, but…"

But he had to follow Robin. If Lissa had an answer to that, the roar of winds stole her words.

Chrom fanned his wings open, the silver scales catching the red sun… and letting flames and smoke envelope him, the same as they crept over Robin. An answering glow came from Morgan and Lucina.

"Why-?" He just heard Robin.

"Because I'm not done fighting yet." Those were the last words he managed, before a bolt of white blinded his vision.

And then, nothing but shadows.


	71. Rekindled

**Chapter 71: Rekindled**

She opened her eyes to shadows, and nothing else.

A purple mist wreathed the corners of her vision, and settled into a chill along her skin. Robin tugged at the edges of her robe, trying to find some warmth in the clothing. And hopefully warmth of the soft and comforting nature, that wouldn't sear her blood or skin.

Robin stopped, where her fingers brushed flesh… and found scales instead. There were flecks of violet still lingering along her arms, and seemingly ready to grow at a moment's notice. Robin forced her eyes away from the scales, looking out at the void again.

"So this is oblivion?" Robin asked, mostly to herself.

"Not quite." Came a new voice, and Robin whirled about. She found herself facing someone in a matching robe, the hood drawn over the stranger's face.

"Who-?" Robin choked out, staring at the violet eyes along the sleeves... and then saw hair the same color as her own, peeking out from beneath the hood. All the figure needed was Grima's scarlet eyes to make her blood run cold. And prompt Robin to strike with talons. With no other weapons at her side, Robin flexed her fingers and tensed. "Gri-?"

In answer, the figure lifted her hood back… to show a different face. One that had seen more years than Robin ever had, a wise light in her eyes. And a familiar face, that Robin had seen once in a vision of flames. The tension left her body, her knees turned to water with how she wobbled.

"Y-you're-?" Robin staggered, fighting to keep her balance.

"Maela." The figure answered, in the same breath that Robin said "Mother?"

At the same time, Maela got a clear look at Robin's face… and froze. It lasted only for a moment, before her mother rushed forward and swept her arms around her. And Robin found herself doing the exact same.

-o-o-o-

The daylight had no right to be that bright, Lissa decided. But with the threat of Grima gone, the sun seemed determined to bring back its light. And with that brilliance came the people, stepping out from where they'd hidden, held their breath, and waited to see if the world would end.

Lissa bowed her head to all of it, putting on the appearances where she needed to… but asking Frederick to handle most of the affairs and ceremony, while she safeguarded the Emblem and Falchion. She clung to both treasures like lifelines, all through the speeches and meetings once they returned to Ylisse.

The two treasures had been delivered back to the ground with the rest of them. And this time, Lissa wasn't tempted to throw them aside. Naga's words echoed in her ears; that Chrom and Robin had taken a risk, as had their children.

' _And now, I need to safe guard these treasures for when they return. And they WILL return.'_ Lissa promised herself, as she set the heirlooms back in their place in the throne room. And tried to keep her fingers from shivering.

-o-o-o-

The mark on his shoulder burned blue, making the contrast between him and the void all the more severe.

"Robin!?" Chrom shouted into a shadowscape, his voice fading like echoes in a well. No answer came back to him, no matter how he twisted about, straining his ears. Only the scuff of his footsteps, and his raspy breathing registered. With each heartbeat, his breath threatened to turn into a sob.

' _No… No, this can't be how it all ends! After everything we've been through…'_

He hated how his eyes stung. How he was still the same prince who could only watch as his loved ones vanished-

On their own, his feet jerked into motion, trying to outrun his own thoughts. How long he ran through shadows, Chrom didn't know; there seemed to be no time, no distance in this void.

"Robin-!" He tried to call again… only to bite back a gasp as something turned his steps, and sent him crashing to the ground. He wrenched himself back up onto his arms, turning to see what had tangled his foot.

A twisted claw greeted him, flexing and scraping at the floor in the place of his boot. The skin of it almost burned, in sharp contrast to the chill of the ground.

And the changes didn't seem satisfied with just that, going by how his back ached, and his hands restlessly twitched.

"Gods!" He cursed, forcing himself upright and favoring his other, normal foot. "That can't be good."

If anything, it looked like he had a time limit on how human he could be.

That leant some urgency to his steps, and urged him to push on, limping on every odd step through the shadows.

-o-o-o-

She clung onto her mother, terrified that if she let go, Maela would vanish again.

"Oh gods, I've wanted…" Robin choked out. "I've wished forever to meet you, somehow. To tell you about everything-"

"I've seen brief glimpses of it." Maela answered, and Robin tried not to wince, from the way her heart squeezed. "And what I've seen… I'm amazed, at what you've done. What you've become. A mother, a guide and strategist, and a far cry from what your father intended."

Robin's best answer to that was a hiccup. For a moment, she rested her head against Maela's shoulder.

"There's only one way you can be here, and I think I know why. I've caught glimpses of it. You… sacrificed yourself, didn't you?" Maela must have felt the way Robin nodded her head. "Oh, Robin… my poor, brave girl."

"Brave-?" Robin coughed out a laugh. "You must have glimpsed the wrong thing. I sacrificed myself because I was terrified of what else might happen."

Maela stepped back a moment, looking over her and shaking her head.

"I'd love to debate that more. But sadly we're short on time."

"Time? But… look at where we are! Nothing else is pressing in on us; Grima is gone, and I-"

"Still have a family who love you."

Her mind lurched, crashing into an image of Chrom fading in and out with her.

"O-oh gods. They're here too?" She blinked back tears. "I-I wouldn't wish this on them… but they still followed me, didn't they?"

Maela only nodded. Robin wanted to deny it, to only focus on her mother. But she knew she'd be lying to herself. Her fingers squeezed at Maela's shoulders.

"Mother, I-" Robin broke off, when her fingers tore at the seams of Maela's sleeves. Her hands sprang off Maela's form, as though she'd turned red hot, and Robin stared down at the black claws growing in.

"…That's the other part of time we're short on. All of you are still carrying power in your blood. And I fear that in this place, it might overwhelm you."

She couldn't argue that; not with the mess of violet and black creeping over her hands.

"You have a choice to make; all of you do. Whether to stay here, whether you wish to surrender to what's been burning in you for years-" Maela's voice seemed to grow fainter, as an ache from her scar demanded Robin's focus.

"You only have until the mist clears. When it's gone, you'll be lost for good. And so will the rest of your family." At Maela's words, Robin thought she heard something else. A voice, calling out for her. She strained her hearing towards it. And yet her feet stayed rooted to the ground, not wanting to leave Maela. Even her hands, twisted as they were, tried to reach for her again.

"Mother, I… I don't want to leave you. Not after finally meeting you again."

Her mother wouldn't fully meet her gaze at that, a flash of grief moving through her eyes and drawing what could have been tears.

"And I wish I didn't have to say goodbye, either. But… I also don't want you to have your time cut short, with your family. You've a right to your life now. Particularly after you fought so hard for it." Maela blinked the tears away, looking back at Robin and taking her hand up. She didn't flinch from the claws, giving it one last squeeze. Robin did the same thing, trying to memorize everything about her mother's touch.

"We'll meet again. Hopefully one day when you're even more old and gray than I am. And with more stories to tell about your family. But until then…"

"U-until then." Robin forced herself to say. "Until then, I'll remember this. And I'll find my way back."

Maela nodded at that, and released her hand. The dark mist swept in, no longer content to linger on the corners of her vision. Maela vanished from sight, with only a handful of words left lingering in the air.

"Hold yourself up and proud my daughter; you've done well. And now, you only need to do a little more."

Robin forced herself to take a deep breath, and scrubbed her tears off her face with the sleeve of her robe. Clutching the fabric tight to her, as a reminder of her mother, she turned and set off into the mist.

-o-o-o-

Lucina shivered, trying to lift her head against an oppressive blackness. A heaviness still lingered, anchored to her head, and Lucina knew she'd kept her crown of horns.

"Where are we?" That was Morgan, and after a few blinks that adjusted her eyes to the gloom, Lucina realized he was right next to her.

"I-I think we've…" Lucina looked around again, only to find blackness. It seemed she and Morgan were the only thing in this world that weren't shadows. "We've followed Mother, into wherever this place is."

It didn't look all that inviting, and she dreaded the idea of anyone else being here.

'… _Not a bad place to stop for the likes of me, however.'_ Lucina couldn't stop that thought from forming. Or her body from going heavy. Something Morgan had to notice, with how she thudded against him.

"C'mon, Luci!" Morgan tried to urge her to her feet. His own feet scrapped at the ground, while he pushed at her shoulder. "We can't give up here!"

"But… we're done. Grima is gone." Her destiny was finished, and she felt a long shudder move through her. Like her body was finally accepting things were over and that it was time to melt away. That was if her weight didn't come crushing down on her first, with how heavy her bones and flesh all felt.

"What about Mother?" Morgan's question cut through the heaviness. "You're not seriously suggesting we stop here, when she's-?"

' _Still there. Still hurting.'_ In a rush she remembered how her mother's peace had melted away, when she saw that she wasn't the only one heading to oblivion. _'And then… There's the others. Somehow, I can't imagine Owain or Cynthia would be all that happy with me, if I just lay down here and gave up.'_

How could she have forgotten them, even for an instant?

In answer to Morgan and her own thoughts, Lucina found herself climbing back to her feet.

"Point made." She rasped out, flinching at the growl in her voice. "My role might be done… but there was a reason we forced our way in here, wasn't there?"

For her mother and father.

' _Besides, I think that other me would like her parents back. I wouldn't want to disappoint her, like what happened to me.'_

"I almost forgot…" She muttered.

"Well, I've done enough forgetting for the both of us, I think. Maybe I can make up for that by reminding you." Morgan pointed out, as he helped her up. She couldn't help but notice the claws lingering on his hand. But for the moment Morgan seemed determined to ignore them, in favor of her. Lucina could only nod, and take her first few steps into the gloom.

-o-o-o-

Chrom staggered onwards, blinking blurry eyes.

He tried to pick out anything through the gloom. A glance of fabric, a wisp of hair-

He stopped short, sucking in his breath. For an instant, he'd blanked on what the color of her hair was. How could he forget something like that?

And yet… this place seemed to have a way of eating his thoughts. Even his memories. And as his heart rate started to raise, pain flared in his knee where scales burst into being, and almost brought him back to the ground. Chrom grit his teeth, tasting blood where fangs bit at his tongue.

' _I'm losing-'_ His form AND his memories, it seemed. How long would it take before his scales closed over his head, and his body gave up the idea of being human? What if he was just a few steps away from becoming like that thing he'd first found in Southtown?

In answer his sides throbbed in pain and his breath billowed out hot, flames shooting a moment of color into the shadows. And something stirred in his heart and head. Something restless and ready to reduce his body to tinder.

"Where are you…?" Chrom tried again. He swore his voice was weaker, just like his thoughts. It was like his connection and form were both breaking.

' _How do I find you-?'_ On the next step, he pitched forward. Another set of talons had erupted from his foot, leaving him with two mangled legs. His head crashed against the ground, a vibration shuddering and echoing oddly in his ears. Something scrapped the ground where he tried to move his head, and his skull ached from that same thing growing out.

' _Horns-'_ And wings, twitching restlessly out of his back. His body was hard at work tearing itself asunder and forming into something else-

" _You're not giving up here, are you?"_ Came a strange echo, and Chrom yanked his head up… and found himself staring at his own face. It wasn't framed by horns, and measured him carefully.

"Who-?" Chrom choked out. "You're… You're me?"

" _Have you already forgotten who I am?"_ Chrom started to nod at that… but the motion turned his gaze downwards, to a splash of red across his double's side.

Memories crashed in on him; of nightmares, a voice on Grima's back while he was under her thrall… and a dragon in Southtown.

"You ARE me… from the other future!" Chrom blurted out. "I-I almost forgot-"

" _This place will do that, if you're not careful. With that blood burning in you, it wants to take you over completely… just like it did to me, once."_ His other self stretched out a hand, pointing at his marked shoulder.

"I think it's half succeeded." Chrom said, looking down at his arms. They were coated in silver and blue now, the colors glowing bright against the void. "But, I…"

He grit his teeth, and struggled to his feet once more. His clawed feet dug at the ground, and he wobbled upright. It took the fanning of his wings to hold him steady, as he met his mirrored self at eye level.

"But… I can't stop here. Not with Robin still lost." That was the reason he came here, Chrom reminded himself.

"You're the reason I was able to follow her, aren't you? The connection you had with Grima-"

" _Right."_ His other self nodded. _"And considering all the trouble I landed you in, from the moment you met me in combat… Well it seems that helping you reunite with Robin is the least I can do-"_

He paused, lifting those burning blue eyes and glancing around.

" _This realm is fading. None of us can stay here for much longer. You need to find her, and your family before the shadows lift."_

"If I can just figure out how." Chrom answered, forcing another step forward… but as he did so, his other self seemed to fade. "Wait! What are you-?"

" _It seems I'm almost done, after so long. I've traveled with you this far… now I must take my leave to watch, with the others."_ The voice finished. _"Gods, but I've missed-"_

Robin. The word was left unsaid, but Chrom knew what it had to be. That the other Robin must have been freed from Grima. And was waiting for that version of Chrom, beyond this place.

" _But I can try to do one last thing for you, as thanks."_ The other Chrom stretched his hand out. _"Keep walking, and remember the bond you have with Robin. Even if you forget everything else, remember that."_

And then in less than a breath, he was gone. The only thing left was a strange, familiar hum in the air, buzzing in Chrom's ears. In answer, Chrom stubbornly moved his feet forward again.

-o-o-o-

Lissa stared at Emmeryn's features, and the carefully polished stone they'd been carved from. The Exalt's statue stood proud at the cathedral entrance, an echo to Naga's statue inside.

"I feel a little silly, talking to you like this." Lissa found herself saying, eyes fighting between downcast and looking Emmeryn's statue eye to eye. "But.. I want to think you might be able to hear me. And that you can watch over us, just like your statue is."

Lissa wondered, if she tilted her head, if Emm's serene expression took on a gentle smile. Lissa hoped that was a good sign.

"And I hope that means you're watching over Chrom and Robin, and their kids. They need your help more than I do at the moment. I can manage the castle and even raise little Lucina a bit. So if you have to choose… maybe go with them?" She shut her eyes, finding it painful to look at the statue.

It only reminded her how whispers in court and town had begun, that maybe another set of statues needed to be carved, to honor other heroes. And she didn't want to allow that just yet, to entertain the thought that they were really gone.

"So if you can… Please help them. Please give them a way back."

-o-o-o-

' _How do I find her? How do I tap into those bonds?'_ Chrom asked himself. And his body wondered how it would keep moving… Until a gleam of white banished all those questions.

The light formed into something vaguely human, standing proud against the gloom. It made for a bright spot and oddly comforting. The sight yanked a name off of Chrom's tongue.

"Emm…?" He dared not do more than whisper, lest a raised voice banished what he saw. "Are you-?"

The urgency to find Robin faded, in place of her radiance. The white robes she wore seemed to almost glow, in sharp contrast to the black void. She raised a bright wreathed hand, the touch almost landing on his shoulder.

"It's been a while, Chrom. And now I find you here, of all places?" Emmeryn's voice seemed to ring in his ears, almost a faint bell chime. Chrom had to gulp down a sob for several breaths before he could venture more words.

"It-It's a bit of a long story. But… Gods, there's so much to tell you." It was hard to pick just one spot, but his mind latched onto something. One thing he had to tell her, if nothing else. "But we lasted this long because of you. And you were right about the gemstones, and… and even the Emblem. You were right that we needed that-" Even though it stung his eyes to admit that.

He wanted to bridge the gap, to take up her hand and give a million apologies for what happened. For what he'd caused, and the fact that he _still_ couldn't seem to measure up against her-

"I…" Chrom screwed his eyes shut against the sight, lowering his head. "I want so much to speak to you. To tell you everything, but…" But the sight of her awoke a pain in his heart. And it was a fresh wound, thanks to what had just happened to Robin.

' _She's still out there. You can still save HER, can't you?'_ Even if it meant he had to turn his back on Emm.

"I know," Emmeryn whispered. "I don't want to hold you back."

"S-so why are you here?"

"Because of a prayer." Emmeryn gave a cryptic answer. "But I wanted to tell you, that you have the task to continue living. No more sacrifices for now… from you or Robin."

"So I _can_ save her." He dared to say that, and think that maybe he could find her.

"That's what I hope." Emmeryn answered. Her robes seemed to dim, and her form faded out. "Provided you can reach her, before the shadows here wear you away. Or the fire burns through you."

"A-any advice?" Chrom asked, glancing around the void again… and feeling the heat spike in his blood, trying to burn against the darkness.

"I'll say it again, like your other self did… Remember your bonds. They're what you need to find Robin. That, and something you've shared with your family." With those words, Emmeryn faded away. And still that hum lingered in his ears, seemingly stronger than before.

Chrom glanced down to see a little more balance had seeped back into his legs; they were trying to cling to something human, at the very least. And hopefully, they'd keep holding him up.

-o-o-o-

The memorial to those who had fallen in the conflict went as well as could be expected. No one seemed to mind that Lissa had needed to wipe her eyes all through the ceremony, and Maribelle had been a steady presence… even if Maribelle's father had been less of that, with how he questioned her at the end.

When all the people had dispersed into the town, and the nobles and soldiers were preparing to leave the castle and city entirely to rebuild their domains, he lingered with a doubtful look fixed to his face.

"My lady... it has been weeks since they vanished. Why will you not put aside the title of regent and become Exalt in truth?"

"Because I'm not giving up on them." Lissa said with finality. There was a reason only Emmeryn's name had been offered up, during the speeches.

"They've pulled off the impossible before; why should this be any different? I'll build Ylisse back up where I need to, just like Chrom and Robin did after the war with Gangrel. But only because I want my brother to come back to a good kingdom."

Flavia clapped an encouraging hand over Lissa's shoulder.

"Ferox will wait for them, as long as we need to."

"Besides, I'll be wanting Lucina back for champion in another year or so!" Basilio followed it up with a booming laugh, silencing any possible objections from the nobles. Maribelle's father sank back, well diminished by the two Khans.

"If you're sure you can handle some matters…?" Frederick asked in the noble's place, and Lissa gave a friendlier nod to him.

"Maribelle can give me a hand with diplomacy. Sully seems ready to ride the borders all day and night with Stahl and some fresh recruits, and Virion and Cherche are determined to keep good relations with Valm." She nodded to Frederick. And she knew that he and Sumia would have their own hands full soon, with the hushed conversations she'd overheard of training pegasus knights.

It seemed everyone had something to move on to. But she still had something to wait for, while she worked.

-o-o-o-

How long he'd been wandering, Chrom didn't know.

' _Remember your bonds.'_ What carried him so far. But that was easier said then done, as a fever seemed determined to settle into his brain, leaving his thoughts hazy. His feet dragged against the ground, the dragon skin on them adding an extra rasp to his motions.

And still, no matter how his body twisted, he could find no sign of Robin. Or his children.

"How do I find them-?" He caught a flicker of Emmeryn's advice. Of something he and his family had shared. And something that had already brought him back from the brink, before.

At last, rising like embers from a fire, the words came to his throat. They stuttered at first, but Chrom threw them out into the void, putting all his breath and strength into them.

"Far, far away...". His voice was a shuddering, rough throated thing not suited to singing. Still, he tried. "Where night will turn to day."

Lucina's song no longer shot caution into him, or a sense of unease. And the words flowed onto his tongue.

"One silver shard, to let her dream in peace,

One red like blood, quells her fires til they cease,

One shining blue, will let her heart stay true,

The green gives her hope, in its forest hues,

And black as the night, the last is her respite,

To grant strength in sorrow, til the morrow stills her grief..."

Tears stung at his eyes as he sang… but with his voice ringing out, something else just brushed his ears. It was another voice, singing and picking up the last verses.

"For… A… Queen's return…"

-o-o-o-

Wandering didn't turn up anything… but it was better than laying still and doing nothing. Morgan was certain of that much.

"I don't know about you, but I'm still trying to figure out what exactly happened." Morgan stuck to Lucina's side, matching his steps to hers and helping to support her weight. For her part, Lucina kept her gaze forward, trying to pick out something, anything that they could focus on.

At their backs, their wings gave a feeble rustle, like the feathers of restless birds.

"Or where we are, for that matter." Because the void certainly wasn't giving them any answers. Neither had the mists decided to give up Chrom or Robin, no matter how they staggered through them.

"This place… it has to be the boundary, between the living and the dead." Lucina answered, glancing about with a shiver. "How else would you explain the chill in the air?"

Morgan gave a nod at that. And found that he couldn't quite chase the shiver from his own skin. His steps seemed to echo all the louder, almost deafening his hearing.

Though not Lucina, from the way she started upright.

"Do you hear that-?" Lucina whispered. She lifted her head, while Morgan tried to raise her up. Straining his ears, he thought he could hear something; a faint melody, and a voice driving it.

His father's voice. And with it was a song, carried faint through the air. Lucina hummed to it for a moment, before picking up the verse as well. She joined her voice to it, sang about gemstones, and waiting for a queen's return-

And as she did so, the mist seemed to retreat for a moment, giving up something that had been lost in the fog. Morgan lurched forward with Lucina, seeing a white draped figure loom out of the shadows.

"Father!" Morgan choked out, while Lucina gave a startled noise. Chrom spun at that, eyes widening with a blue light.

"Lucina? Morgan?" While they were stumbling towards him, Chrom didn't seem to do much better in his own strides. When he drew near, Morgan saw the changes wracking Chrom's form, making him stagger. And yet despite the twists his legs had taken, the mess of scales crossing his cheeks and the wings scrapping at the ground, Chrom focused entirely on them, reaching out to ensure they were real.

"I found you… Thank the gods I found you." Chrom managed. Lucina found her strength at last, reaching out to help and hold Chrom upright.

"Father, you were…" Lucina blinked at him. "That song…"

"It's something I finally decided to try." Chrom admitted. "And given who it led me to, I can't complain too much…"

He trailed off, glancing at Morgan. Lucina did the same, and they both must have seen the pained look scrunching up his face. He shook his head back and forth, feeling something trying to rise to the surface.

"I think… I remember something." Morgan whispered. "Listening to you two, it's like something came loose in my head. Words, to the song."

Their eyes stayed fixed on him, expectant and hopeful in equal measure. Morgan cleared his throat, and began in a breathy voice.

"For a queen's return… And until the skies will burn,

Darkness cloaks the earth.

But fire brings rebirth."

Morgan closed his eyes, letting an image flood through his mind. Of a song whispered to him by a younger Lucina, during dark and fearful nights. Evenings where they prayed their family was alright, and Lucina fought back sobs of her own as she sang. And then her voice going silent and bitter, forgetting the rest of the song in favor of sorrow and the fear of Grima.

Her words flowed onto Morgan's lips, growing louder and louder.

"The Emblem shields the mind,

Falchion will protect and bind,

The bonds of dragons, and their sway

Until at last night will turn to day!"

He didn't so much sing the last, as shout it. His voice rang across the void… and he swore that when it faded, something moved in the mist. Something that wore long flowing sleeves, and raised her head to his voice.

Morgan's voice turned to squeak, once he put a name to the image.

"Mother!" Lucina blurted out, staggering forward. Chrom did one better, rushing to Robin before she turned all the way.

-o-o-o-

"Robin, it's you."

She knew that voice. If she forgot her own name again, she'd still know that voice.

"Chrom, what are you doing here-?" Robin stopped short, freezing at the sight of him. Her hand stretched out, fingers shaking as they touched the scales lining his face. "Gods, what's happening to you?"

Before he could answer, she shook her head back and forth, her hair dislodged from the motion and catching on a set of budding horns. "Stupid question; the same thing that's happening to me."

"I'm just glad I found you." He answered, catching the hand by his face and lacing his fingers around it. His touch was still impossible warm, and gentle despite the changes biting at his fingers.

"But why? Chrom, this place is wearing me away… and it looks like the same thing is happening to you! Why are you risking this, when I tried to-?" Sorrow choked at her voice. "When I tried to save you."

"Because I made a promise, that I wouldn't watch another person die for me, and be helpless to do anything about it. Particularly not the woman I love." He squeezed at her hand, likely making certain she wouldn't vanish again.

"You risk so much…"

"Because you're family." Came another voice, and Robin almost flinched at that. Morgan staggered forward, helping Lucina find each one of her steps. Robin jolted towards them, her other hand reaching out for an instant, before drawing back in uncertainty.

"What are you-?"

"We're tied to Grima too, you know." Morgan answered. "And when we saw you fading… Well, we both didn't want to stand back and watch, when there was a chance we could follow you. And bring you back."

Robin opened her mouth to try and protest… but Lucina lifted her head, and met her gaze.

"Mother… please. Morgan and I had to grow up alone once, already. So please…" Lucina's voice went hushed, suffocating the rest of the plea. But Robin could guess at what it must have been.

' _Please, don't leave again.'_

"I'm sorry." Robin said, a fragile quality creeping into her voice. "I'm sorry I forced you into this choice-"

"I understand why you did what you did. But I also know that you're not the only one allowed to risk and sacrifice herself." Lucina finally answered. "The rest of us should be equal to the burden."

"Though maybe now that we've found each other… maybe we can focus on finding our way out of here, next?" Morgan said.

-o-o-o-

"You've been holding yourself well." Came Tiki's voice, one late evening. It had been another night that Lissa found herself roaming the halls, driven by restlessness. For her part, Tiki didn't seem to NEED sleep, and wasn't yet in a hurry to go back to Valm.

Something Lissa found herself grateful for.

"I've had plenty of opportunities to practice for this. Having Chrom and Robin going absent." Lissa answered. "Though I've got to say, them fading into nothing is a bit new."

Tiki nodded at that, glancing out into the night sky.

"What… exactly could have happened to them?" Lissa found herself asking.

"Are you looking for reassurance? I'm not certain that I could give any." Tiki answered, only for Lissa to shake her head.

"No, I've got enough hope. You were here for some of what happened, but not all of it. You haven't seen how they can find a way out of any situation. But I just want to know exactly what they're up against."

Tiki closed her eyes at that, feeling out her words.

"What Naga once told me, it's something like, a- a void… a breach between worlds and a limbo, where all souls go. Even those of dragons, divine or fell in nature."

Lissa joined Tiki at the window, looking up at the stars.

"But that means that they're still alive… sort of. Not lost to oblivion." Lissa felt the need to point out.

"Perhaps, but they stay in a half and half state, in that place. They are still out of balance, with the damage to their brands." Tiki said. "And that might well put them in peril, until they can determine what's in their hearts."

"What does that mean?"

"Whether they choose to be human and embrace those bonds… or the madness and power of dragons."

-o-o-o-

It seemed like this place was losing some its shadows, the fog falling away to reveal a faint tinge of blue. Something that called to mind skies, and a hint of green in the air.

' _That's either really good, or really bad.'_ But now that they were together, Chrom hoped that they could get through this place, and back to the world of the living.

The faint touch of color put some speed in their steps, and he heard Robin give a soft whisper.

"Not far now-"

His first warning was a twinge in his shoulders.

The second was the gasp that Lucina let out, followed by the wince from Morgan. All three flashed through his senses a moment before claws seemed to sink into his skin and towards his heart, burning as they went.

Robin stumbled, crashing to her knees. Her back seemed to twist, taking what was left of her balance with it. Her hands clawed at the ground, fingers twisted into talons.

This place wasn't done with them. Not if the fire in his blood was any sign, or the way his muscles all tried to twist up.

His other self's warning came back to him.

' _It wants us to stay here…'_ And for them to lose their sanity and humanity, as his body gave a muscle wide throb and twist. The shadows lifted a little more, their surroundings painfully bright. He could feel his focus trying to crisp away, in favor of transforming and forgetting everything else.

' _We can't!'_ But there was no Emblem now. _'We have to get back to-'_

The others, even though a part of him froze when he realized their faces were blurring out… just like when Grima got her claws into his mind. Even his vision was going hazy.

"I…" Robin was going faint, her body darkened… at odds with the flames flickering along it. It was like she was bleeding shadows. "I-"

A growl seeped into her voice, and her eyes wouldn't focus on him. His world threatened to blur out… Save for a soft strain of song, something he'd been humming only a moment or two ago.

It was his daughter's song. And the lyrics bringing to mind a memory of five gemstones. Even if they weren't with him, they called to mind a gentle light that soothed the fire in his blood, for just a moment. It seemed to do the same for his children, as they tried to fight their way back to their feet.

' _Remember your bonds… do you want to be raw power and nothing else? Or-?'_

He shut his mind to the twists wracking his body.

Chrom reached through the fires coating Robin, heedless of how they bloomed silver and blue scales on his arms. His hands locked around her shoulders… and just like that, the touch snuffed out the changes along his monstrous arms. They were only flesh and prompted Robin to stare up at him.

"It's like you said; when I fall... You'll be there to pull me back up. The same is true for me helping you." Chrom said. Even if he couldn't lift himself up all the way-

Which meant it was up to Morgan and Lucina. They both gave a slight grunt, pulling their parents all the way back up. Chrom braced against them, forcing his legs to listen.

A dozen images flashed through his head as he stood. Sully helping Robin into the saddle; Stahl giving them all a song one night, Lissa bandaging their wounds with faint exasperation and Maribelle helping out. Of Gregor offering his experience and Cherche giving gentle advice. Of Frederick being a steady anchor all through their fights, Sumia nursing spirits after the battles-

A dozen more faces of friends and allies, those who they'd left behind… and who they needed to return to.

The flash of memories scoured away the last of their changes, leaving them only human. COMPLETELY human, without a trace of scales, claws, or fire in their blood. Robin stared between her and Chrom, and Lucina gave soft, relieved noise as she looked over her changed form.

"Human. We're human." Robin said.

' _At last.'_

"I-I'd almost forgotten how it felt," Lucina whispered, looking at her hands.

"Yeah… being back to being in just one shape for a change." Morgan added, and with a shock Chrom realized the fire and his blood had died out completely. "So, might as well make the most of it and get going!"

Morgan tugged Chrom forward, while Lucina put a hand on Robin's arm. With their guiding touch, they stepped forward, the fog pulled away completely… and everything was enveloped in something bright, almost like shining flames. Like Naga's own fire.

And fading to white-

-o-o-o-

A month later, pat her ceremony and discussions with Tiki, Lissa stirred in her sleep. After a failed attempt to bury her face in her pillow, Lissa finally pulled her head up with a sleepy mumble. She'd felt something, she swore. Looking up, she saw that dawn was painting the sky a watery pale blue.

Lissa found herself wandering the halls of the castle and waiting for Ylisse to come awake. As she walked, she saw one other person roaming the passages. Tiki stood at one of the windows, gazing out in the sky. She turned at Lissa's footsteps. The manakete's eyes were soft, and the smile tracing across her face had a strange, half sad look to it.

"Lissa... it seems like it is finally time for me to leave. Say'ri and I will both be departing for Valm." Lissa blinked at her in shock. "You must have felt a hint of it as well?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Likewise, Lissa felt sadness and hope warring in her. "Felt what?"

"I dreamed of fires burning low, before finally reigniting into a bright beacon. I glimpsed a field of grass and flowers, and four lights shimmering against it."

"No way..." Lissa threw aside all of her conflicting feelings, in favor of throwing her arms around TIki and whooping with relief. Just then she didn't care who she woke up, or how Tiki started from the gesture. "I KNEW IT! I knew they were too stubborn to die out or fade away. Look, I know you want to go back to Valm, but before then, can I convince you to take one last trip with me, to Southtown? Maybe with Frederick and a few of the others, once we get them up? I think I know EXACTLY where to go, too."

"It would be an honor to accompany you, and see to it that the Exalt returns." Tiki answered, the last of her sadness evaporating.

-o-o-o-

Soft, cool wind brushed at her face, along with warm sunlight washing over her. A gentle rustle of grass was underneath her, and pressing into her back. She knew all of these sensations... and also the thought came to her that being dead didn't likely involve them. Robin cracked her eyes open, to look up at an achingly blue sky.

The intensity of the color was only matched by the blue eyes looking into her; three pairs of them. Chrom gazed down at her, Lucina and Morgan to either side.

"Here, give me your hand," Chrom whispered to her, holding out his hand the same as he had so many years ago. Robin stretched out to take it, and saw that her own mark was finally gone, erased from her hand. Only a thin scar traced across the top of her hand. Looking up along Chrom's arm, she saw the beginnings of color tracing across his own scar, finally healing the rent in his Brand. Her eyes darted over to her children; Lucina had her gloves off, showing unmarked hands, while Morgan had shucked his own tactician's robe to show nothing more than a fading scar on his shoulder.

"Welcome back. It's finally over." Chrom told her, pulling Robin up to her feet. She threw her arms around him when she was at level with him, sighing into his neck in relief. Lucina leaned against them both, a shaking in her shoulders showing she didn't know whether to laugh or cry over everything. They took some of Lucina's weight onto their own shoulders. And Morgan-

Morgan just threw himself into his family with a relieved laugh. He slammed into them and overbalanced them all, and they crashed back into the grass.

"HAH! I told you!" As they tumbled, Robin swore that she heard Lissa laughing. She just glimpsed the girl cresting the hill, a few other Shepherds trailing behind her… almost like they'd been waiting for them. Robin only had a moment glimpse that however, before she thudded to the ground in a tangle with all her family.

Robin found herself laying on top of Chrom, staring down at him.

"Aren't there better places to take a nap than on the ground?" She found herself asking him, and he grinned back. He tightened his arms around her and squeezed Robin close.

"Maybe. But at the moment I can't think of anywhere else I'd want to be." Robin finally felt a laugh work its way out of her throat as she pressed her forehead against his. A few feet pattered the ground, as Lissa caught up to them, and Chrom tickled her face with his bangs.

Still a complete fool. But one she was glad to come back to. Him, her children, her home... and her family.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's Note:** So at last, with 70+ chapters and over 300k of words written, Blood of Dragons comes to an end. It's been a fantastic trip, from writing the rough draft in 2015, to posting new sections on my birthday each year, and just sticking through with the project all the way to the end.

I've learned so much along the way, working on this. I'm a different writer now, compared to when I started this fic. And I'm happy with all the things I've discovered over the multi year span of writing, editing, and posting.

Believe it or not, I don't think I'm quite done with fanficcing and shipping Chrobin. I hope that there's still another fic or so in me, that with luck I'll eventually get to post. Until then, thank you again to everyone for sticking with this story all the way through, with all the delays and unpredictable developments. Your comments, kudos, and favs mean the world when it comes to encouraging me, and I hope that from here on you all have a good time until the next fanfic.


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